Migratory crisis: 15,600 people crossed the Darien in June

Last June, 15,600 migrants crossed the Darien jungle, according to Tamara Taraciuk, Americas director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), who also detailed that, of those 15,600, some 11,300 were Venezuelan. The online media VPItv interviewed Taraciuk, who exposed the alarming data of the migratory exodus in the region.

"If we compare this figure with that of June 2021, in that month there were a total of 10,200 people crossing, and of those only 205 were Venezuelan," said Taraciuk. Throughout last year, 133,000 people crossed the Darien, including 29,000 children, many of whom made the crossing alone.

Tamara Taraciuk related that "we interviewed people who came from other countries and from Venezuela, some of them due to persecution". "This stretch of the Darien is extremely dangerous, and what they told us is that they do it because there is no other possibility to get closer to the United States, due to the visa requirements that are being imposed in Mexico and in some Central American countries".

A territory taken over by the mafias

The Darien jungle is a territory located between Colombia and Panama, controlled by mafias that traffic migratory flows. People from different continents and countries try to reach the United States through this lawless place. Cubans, Haitians and, above all, Venezuelans stand out in number. According to multiple accounts, there are massive physical violations, murders, extortions and humiliations of all kinds. Many lose their lives in this hell. One example: Rosmary González lost her 4-year-old son and her 50-year-old husband while trying to cross the Darién jungle. The precarious economic situation of this Venezuelan family led them to make the decision to undertake the journey that led to the fatal outcome.

Taraciuk warns that as long as the situation in Venezuela remains unstable, many will want to leave the country. For its part, the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, reiterates that people continue to flee the country of socialist Nicolás Maduro to "flee violence, insecurity, threats and lack of food, medicine and essential services".