The video shows some Venezuelan migrants sobbing as they talk about the hardships of their passage through the Darién. This impenetrable tropical forest between Colombia and Panama has become a funnel for much of the flows that seek their way from South America to a new life, usually in the United States. Shots like this, shared on social media, are becoming more and more common. The famous “plug” of the Darien, a dense and hermetic territory, poses a survival challenge for the caravans of desperate migrants from the hemisphere.
The tales of those who have walked this path assure that it is not uncommon to find dead bodies or dying people awaiting help along the way. On several occasions there have been reports of children arriving at United Nations supply posts without their parents or parents without their children. The migrants are given leftover luggage and clothes they find abandoned in the jungle.
The journey is about 200 kilometers. Several people have been targeted by illegal groups or exploited for a period of time so that they can continue. There are coyotes who agree on the route. That’s what these connections of criminal organizations are called, which facilitate transit for money. In certain places there are traders who have organized themselves to offer drinks and other products to those who need them. Some migrants have denounced that the guides let them travel through muddy and unhealthy roads to slow down the journey and try to sell them things. The cost of the crossing, which can include some sections in boats on raging rivers, is at least about $500 per person.
Stories from the Darién jungle have multiplied in Venezuela in recent weeks. In addition, for a year now the influx of Venezuelans living in other countries in the region and migrating for the second time from Peru or Ecuador, fleeing xenophobia and unemployment, has increased. “From January to June 2022, more than 28,079 Venezuelans crossed the Darien Jungle, almost 60% of the total number of migrants making this journey, according to the National Border Service of Panama,” says David Smolansky, opposition leader-in-exile, commissioner for the Organization of American States for Migrants and Refugees. The migratory flows from the Darien also include Cubans, Haitians, and to a lesser extent Ecuadorians and Bolivians. And just a year ago, in 2021, barely 2% of migrants from Darién were Venezuelans.
“There are power outages, sewage treatment plant failures, services have collapsed, there is a lack of fuel and cash. The migrant population is overcrowded, they spend the night in the rain, food is scarce, they have nowhere to plug their phones to tell their families that they have left the jungle,” explains Marisol Quiceno, Head of Humanitarian Affairs Affairs at Médecins Sin Borders for Colombia and Panama.
“There are recurring situations, families that are divided, people who adopt lost children. People who drown in rivers, who die of dehydration or heart attacks,” says opposition MP Marco Aurelio Quiñones. The impact of the news from Darién was great and provoked the unusual reaction of Diosdado Cabello, the representative of Chavismo, to his television program Con el mazo dada. For Cabello, the Darien’s information is part of a campaign by an extremist opposition to the Bolivarian revolution, which is trying to collect money from international organizations “to steal it”.
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“They use it as a number, as a statistic, they are not interested in the name, the family, but in the number, why? Because the number allows them to collect money. You become a number… Where is this? That has to be shown to the people on a map, that’s the border between Colombia and Panama, that’s very far from Venezuela, anyway, who’s going to guard that there? That’s a problem for them in this area, that they want to throw it at Venezuela,” Cabello started.
“Here is all money”
César Quijada watched many videos and read comments on a Facebook group related to this tour. He raised $1,250 and left Venezuela on July 1 determined to reach the United States. It was the turn of tens of thousands of migrants heading south to north today to cross the Darien Gap. “I spent seven days waiting in Capurganá for a boat to come out, but none came out and I had to go through the whole jungle,” he says via WhatsApp from somewhere in Honduras. “I crossed it in six days and only took one day off, but I don’t recommend it to anyone. My group wanted to stay more rest days but I preferred to continue with other people. In there you go after God and look for a way to get out as soon as possible. Everything is will.”
Most emigrants find their way through social networks. The group where César found information has more than 172,000 members and is asked daily for advice on how much money to bring to achieve the American Dream, what clothing forecasts to consider and which guides to trust. The stories of migrants being betrayed by coyotes are repeated over and over in the news. Also condolences and prayers for those missing or deceased.
Quijada is 35 years old and worked as a driver in Anzoátegui, in eastern Venezuela. He left Venezuela in search of opportunities, but also fleeing blackmail from some police officers. En route, he had to walk on trails (informal roads) between Honduras and Guatemala to avoid paying bribes called safe conduct, which is what authorities ask at checkpoints to let through migrants who could later be deported . “It’s all money here,” he says. In Panama, he managed to board the United Nations buses. But some parts of the journey were covered on foot to save what dollars he has left.
“They do their shows,” says Cabello. “If you are young and you read all the attacks that have been made against Venezuelans outside our country and you fell into the trap of all these people who started a great media campaign to leave you, then you will try again ? .
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