NECOCLI, Colombia (AP) — Gilbert Fernandez of Venezuela still plans to cross the damaging Darien jungle into Panama and head overland to the United States, despite U. S. announcing it will only grant conditional humanitarian permits to 24,000 Venezuelan migrants arriving by air.
“The news hit us like a bucket of water without blood,” Fernandez said Thursday, a day after the announcement, which also indicated that Venezuelans arriving by land at the U. S. -Mexico border would return to Mexico.
Fernandez spoke to The Associated Press on a beach in Necoclí, a Colombian city where about 9,000 people, mostly Venezuelans, were waiting to board a boat that would take them to the front of the Darien Gap linking the South American country to Panama. there, migrants make their way overland to Central America Mexico to the United States.
Some on the Colombian beach said they would look for other routes to the U. S. U. S. citizens would abandon the route after hearing the news. Critics have pointed out that the announced number of humanitarian visas is only a fraction of the number of Venezuelans seeking to enter the United States.
But for Fernandez, it was too late to turn back. He says he sold his car and land in Venezuela to finance the trip with his 18-year-old son and friends, and that he no longer has cash to pay for a plane ticket at plane price. United States.
“Those of us who have already started, how are we going to do it?”wondered. ” We’re already in this. “
The United States and Mexico said Wednesday that Biden’s management agreed to accept up to 24,000 Venezuelan migrants at U. S. airports, while Mexico agreed to take back Venezuelans arriving in the United States by land.
Venezuelans who cross the border on foot or swimming will be returned to Mexico under a pandemic rule known as Title 42 authority, which suspends the right to seek asylum under U. S. and foreign laws on the grounds of preventing the spread of COVID-19.
The U. S. offer to Venezuelans is based on a program for Ukrainians who fled the Russian invasion.
The measures are a reaction to a dramatic increase in migration from Venezuela, which surpassed Guatemala and Honduras in August as the second-largest nationality arriving at the U. S. border after Mexico.
So in 2022, more than 151,000 people have entered Panama through the jungle, the majority – 107,600 – Venezuelans. This already exceeds the 133,000 people who crossed last year, according to official Panamanian figures. The adventure through the inhospitable jungle is tense with traps, adding thieves, human traffickers and the option of sexual assault. Armed teams operate in the area.
Apprehensions of Venezuelans at the U. S. border have also increased. Authorities detained Venezuelans 25,349 times in August, making them the most national moment detained at the border, after Mexicans.
For some, offering 24,000 humanitarian visas is not enough given the magnitude of Venezuela’s immigration status, and many the status of those visas is too difficult.
Maria Clara Robayo, a researcher at the Venezuelan Observatory at Colombia’s Universidad Del Rosario, said the number of migrants through the Darien Gap would possibly be reduced somewhat, but it won’t stop.
“People will continue to spread to precarious situations” by crossing the jungle, he said.
Jérémy Villegas arrived in Necoclí in an organization of 30 other people, most of whom turn or look for other routes. He said he’s still not sure and waits to hear from other people further down the road to see if it works for him.
Cristian Casamayor said he would stop his adventure via Darien after learning of the new U. S. policy.
“I stopped at intelligence. . . your passport is marked and you can no longer enter the U. S. “We are in the U. S. ,” he said, adding that he had not yet made a decision where he will go. All he knows is that he irá. de not return to Venezuela.
Mario Ricardo Camejo, a member of the Colombian-Venezuelan nonprofit Fundacolven, said that while they appreciate any humanitarian aid and visas from countries like the United States, they worry that the aid will come with situations that make things difficult for poorer migrants. For example, having to arrive by plane and having a monetary sponsor.
“Automatically, a clearing is created so that the help does not reach the other people who love it most,” Camejo said.
Of the more than 7. 1 million Venezuelans who have left their country due to the social and economic crisis, at least 4. 3 million are suffering from food, housing and formal employment, according to a report released Wednesday through the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations. Office of the High Commissioner. Commissioner for Refugees.
Venezuelans in the capital of that country agreed that the new regulations will hurt.
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