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It was no use crossing the dangerous Darién Gap, an area considered a no man’s land between Colombia and Panama, but where traffickers abound in the middle of an inhospitable jungle. They survived, walked across the rest of the Central American countries, reached Mexico and managed to set foot in USA…or they were about to. But now they must turn around Venezuela.
So far this week there are already more than thousand Venezuelans who have returned to their country on different flights from Mexico or Panama, after the United States approved a law to curb the immense flow of migrants who has crossed the land border in recent months.
“We had already crossed four countries. We were in Honduras”, tells AFP Emmanuel Montero, a 21-year-old Venezuelan who arrived on Wednesday at the Maiquetía airport, north of Caracas. Now he must start again from scratch.
READ ALSO: “Start from scratch”: Migrants return to Venezuela after failing to reach the United States
Last October 13, Washington imposed a new protocol to stop this migratory wave of Venezuelansbecause in a year more than .
The regulations provide the income of only 24 thousand Venezuelans through a program that forces them to enter by air and endorsed by a sponsor. Nevertheless, it also punishes those who illegally cross the southern border of the United States, who will be expelled to Mexico in compliance with Title 42, a public health policy implemented during the Donald Trump government under the argument of reducing the entry of people infected by COVID-19, and that the Biden administration has not been able to repeal.
“The objective is to discourage the movement of Venezuelans around the hemisphere through Panama, Mexico and the United States. And, furthermore, give them a strong incentive to wait where they are and arrive regularly so as not to put their lives in the hands of organized crime.”, explained the Acting Undersecretary for Border and Immigration Policy at the US Department of Homeland Security, Blas Nuñez-Neto, during a teleconference with international media in which he participated Trade last October 13.
“To those who are on the move, I want to say clearly to stay where you are, not to enter Mexico and not to try to cross our border.”said the official.
According to Núñez-Neto, the number of people who cross the Darién Gap has multiplied 30 times since April. Currently more than 3 thousand people, mostly Venezuelans, follow this route every day.
Under pressure from Washington, Mexico placed restrictions on air travel by Venezuelan migrants in January, and passage through the Darién jungle has increased thereafter.
However, dissuading those who were already on the way is not easy, especially since many have sold their few belongings to be able to start the journey: “We think that the United States is doing this to put up with us, so that we do not make the decision to continue advancing”Gilbert Fernández, who was a merchant in his country, confessed to the AP. “Those of us who have already come, how are we going to do? We are already mounted on this, “ he said from the beaches of Necoclí, a coastal town in Colombia.
Where they are going?
Although at the conference, Blas Núñez-Neto denied that the measure to control Venezuelan migration is due to pressure in the face of upcoming legislative elections and the actions of the Republican governors of Texas and Arizona to send thousands of people on buses -the majority Venezuelans without papers – to Democratic states like New York, the truth is that the issue has always served as political blackmail between both parties, and immigrants become currency.
The official justified the decision of the Biden administration by the growth of Venezuelan migrants trying to illegally cross the southern border of the United States from Mexico, which has quadrupled during the last fiscal year that ended in September.
According to Nuñez-Neto, there were 180 thousand “border encounters” with Venezuelans in that periodwhich represents 11% of the total, a term that refers to the interventions made by border patrols when they intercept illegal migrants within US territory.
Many of the Venezuelans who were in transit have had to stay in shelters waiting to return to their country, if they do not end up staying illegal in the host nations. Thus, in Panama City a temporary shelter has been opened where thousands of people are waiting.
“Panama is a country with few resources and we are supporting the return of Venezuelans to their country. In this year alone, 206,000 migrants have passed through the Darién, 170,000 of them Venezuelans. We need US support.”Panamanian President Laurentino Cortizo said this week.
In search of a better future
The Venezuelan migratory drama is not new. Peru has been one of the receiving countries for these migrants, who have also settled in recent years in the rest of South America.
Last September, the UN reported that . Of them, more than 5.7 million are in Latin America and the Caribbean.
According to 2020 figures, some 505,000 had settled in the United States. However, the numbers have skyrocketed between 2021 and 2022.
Venezuelans have already overtaken Guatemalans and Hondurans to become , after Mexicans. In August, Venezuelans were detained 25,349 times, a 43% increase over the 17,652 times in July and four times more than the 6,301 encounters in August 2021.
Source: Elcomercio
I, Ronald Payne, am a journalist and author who dedicated his life to telling the stories that need to be said. I have over 7 years of experience as a reporter and editor, covering everything from politics to business to crime.
