"Darien Jungle" a nightmare for migrants

What else can happen to us Venezuelans, what else do my eyes have to see and my ears have to hear, I no longer have tears to shed, I do not know if it hurts me to live. I have always been a very optimistic woman, cheerful, happy to live the life that God gave me, happy to call myself Venezuelan, daughter of this beautiful land, which has everything to be happy. But what happened to us, what else can happen to us.

There came a being that many call supreme, they pray an Our Father in his name and put him as a God. But he was the first to hand over our nation in the name of socialism to the Cubans, Iranians, drug traffickers, among others.

It seems that my country has no salvation and meanwhile the migration of Venezuelans has not stopped. Today I found out about a death route to the American dream. It is a deception, one more in which innocent people fall into.

Today a friend of mine asked us to talk about this issue, to tell the world about it, to let everyone know what is going on so that there are not so many regrettable events.

Have you ever heard of the Selva or the Darien plug?

The Darien Gap is a wall of jungle between Panama and Colombia, where every day migrants' lives are lost and criminal gangs and drug traffickers hide; it is the only point where the Pan-American highway that crosses from Canada to Patagonia is interrupted.

Every year thousands of migrants from all over the world, from Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Trinidadians, Haitians and people from other continents come to this point to try to cross and reach the United States.

The guides, as we are going to call them here to avoid giving them other names, deceive and lie saying that they are going to take them by boat to Panama, but they only drive about 3 hours and leave them at the edge of the jungle where they must cross different rivers and mountains and live the most horrible nightmares.

Today I want to tell you about a foundation called Venezuelans helping Venezuelans, an organization that was formed in Costa Rica by a group of compatriots who just want to help these people who arrive destroyed, with nothing, with broken dreams. It was our friend who asked us, a group of Venezuelans who are still here in the country, not to allow our relatives to cross the border to go through the Darien plug. She told us about the most recent case of a family, husband, wife, sister and their two children, one 8 months old and one year and a half old, there was a third child who was 3 years old but unfortunately died crossing one of these high flow rivers.

They were in a group, with a supposed guide who also disappeared and left them at the mercy of the jungle. Those who make it through tell of a journey of more than 6 days, but the sheath survival gear is enough for the first 3 days. On the way they were taken hostage by an armed group who raped their wives and took the little money they were carrying. Our friend tells us that they are gone from this world, they do not know what to do, the death of their young son and the rape, having been left with nothing left them as if they were dead.

They were able to rescue the child's corpse and carried him as far as they could, only to leave him buried in the jungle where they would never want to return.

For days they drank water from the rivers infected with corpses, not only of immigrants but also of people who are killed by criminals.

My friend just wants people to know about this before they embark on a journey full of deceit. The Darien Jungle is not only rivers and jungle, there are also dangerous mountains, there are wild animals that can devour you in a matter of seconds.

What is even worse, the authorities know all this and we all know that they also take their toll.

I know there are a lot of people going through work, but is it really worth it? All this is not enough, if you get through you have to face the journey of going through many countries until you get to Mexico where it is not easy either.

The situation of this family has touched the feelings of many, I have particularly cried, I would not want anyone to go through this terrible pain.

God bless this foundation that helps these people, not only Venezuelans but also people from other latitudes.

I am not saying that you should stay in your country, there are many who are fleeing not only from hunger, poverty, violence, but now we must add the war. Right here in my continent to cross the borders between Peru and Chile many people also die.

What else should happen so that no more innocent people die, how do you recover a country that has been taken over by a group of white collar criminals.

Venezuela used to be a prosperous, dignified country that helped others and we all got ahead together. But now only ruins remain.

There must be another way, another way to leave and to look for that dream. I don't know what it is, but please, let it not be "The Darien Jungle".

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)