There’s no way out of Venezuela
By: Nataly U
Tags: Political Science, News, Refugees, Venezuela, Politics

Photo by Pixabay on Pexel

Venezuelan refugees are now dying at sea.

Venezuela is not Cuba! We truly believed it

Professors from the most prestigious school of Political Science in the country said it, the political leaders said it, I said it to myself a decade ago. We were convinced that a communist government could never devour our economic potential and human capital in such a devastating manner.

We never believed that we would see ourselves reflected in ancient vehicles, working in darkness by the light granted only by that ingenuity that necessity affords, nor in the deteriorating walls of Havana. The very thought of Venezuelans going to sea, swimming away from famine, scarcity, and political persecution was preposterous in its absurdity.

Looking for refuge:

Once the envy of all of Latin America due to its riches, Venezuela has borders with Brazil, Guyana, and Colombia by land. While many Venezuelans have decided to leave on foot, covering vast distances beyond belief, the people of the coastal regions have resorted to navigating open seas on fishermen’s precarious boats.

Enduring shortages of food, electricity, gasoline, jobs, and cash, they have chosen to explore the migratory opportunity they have at hand: the Caribbean islands.

Sucre, which has topped the list of the poorest states in the currently poorest country in Latin America, starred in a tragedy that has worsened the lack of Christmas spirit for the once most prosperous country in South America.

On December 6, two boats carrying an estimated 25 crew members set sail from the city of Güiria to Trinidad. Convinced they’d find better opportunities, the condemned sailors left friends, family, and their lives behind in pursuit of hope. They would never set foot on land again.

It was not the sea, but indifference.

All the investigations and official statements suggest that yes, both boats reached the coast of Trinidad but were forced to return home without humanitarian considerations.

Diplomatic relations between Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago went through a good streak thanks to the vast amounts of money that the late Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, once poured over Trinidad to obtain regional hegemony in multilateral entities such as the Organization of American States.

Political Realism cannot be more evident than everything that followed after Chavez’s days of extravagant money splurging. With the country’s economic reserves emptied and diplomatic relations in Latin America weakened due to the lack of resources to promote “regional cooperation,” Trinidadian authorities chose to send Venezuelan rafters to their death.

Another shipwreck:

Those two boats that left on December six succumbed to the power of the sea. Some of the rafters were found tied to each other in an attempt to “withstand the waves” together. However, only decomposing remains of 14 persons made the pilgrimage back home. In the following days, new bodies have been found on the shore, so a final death toll has not yet been established.

The remaining bodies of kids, men, and women drowned are under the identification process. Their identities are lost between the hope of a better future and the cruelty of an uncertain present. Between 2018 and 2019, 100 disappearances have been reported on the route to the island. Even so, dying of poverty strikes more fear in their hearts than being on shipwrecks caused by Trinidad’s coast guard’s indifference.

It is just a small island:

Yes, Trinidad has received and housed many Venezuelan immigrants, as has Colombia, Chile, Spain, and Peru… Still, how can we ignore the results of diplomacy and leadership styles in this region?

Urgent reforms must be made to the immigration policy of countries like Trinidad and Tobago to restore their regional reputation if they do not wish to sea their international reputation tarnished indefinitely. Within Trinidadian immigration statutes, they have forbidden the entry of:

“Persons who are idiots, imbeciles, feeble-minded persons, persons who have dementia and insane persons, and others who are likely to charge on public funds.

Persons who are dumb, blind or otherwise physically defective, or handicapped might endanger their ability to earn a livelihood or render them likely to become public funds charges. “

To believe that the Venezuelan crisis is a problem that their citizens can solve without support is a stance that ignores 20 years of military oppression. To trust that a peñero, or fishing boat, can make two continuous trips on the open sea is to accept that a Venezuelan immigrant has lost all human condition before the eyes of Trinidad’s authorities.

Public opinion does not exist:

Surely, we all still remember how moving and shocking it was to see the picture of Alan, the three-year-old Syrian boy whose remains washed up on a Turkish beach in 2015. The international community could not accept what was happening below their noses. The public opinion couldn’t understand how the authorities refused to give visas and transit permits to families fleeing from a country in crisis.

It would seem that memory has a lot to offer when revisiting the past. Not so long ago, American authorities chose a path that made them partners in crime of the fatal destiny that hundreds of Jewish people suffered after being forced to return to Europe during WWII.

Today, in Venezuela, there are photos of shipwrecked bodies tinged with crystal blue tropical backgrounds. A tropical land full of “opportunities”, with its borders plagued by immigrants and its once gorgeous beaches now littered with the corpses of people whose only crime was desperately looking to find a way out of a socialist paradise.