The opposition Juan Pablo Guanipa considered this Saturday that the tightening of immigration policies in some South American countries has led to citizens of Venezuela taking the option of crossing the Darién jungle, among Colombia and Panama, to reach destinations such as the United States.
“Many countries in South America, with the exception of Colombia, whose solidarity migration policy has been an example for the rest of the continent, have toughened their policies for migrants, so Venezuelans have been in need, motivated by desperation. , to cross the Darien jungle»assured the ex-deputy in a press release.
Guanipa blamed the government for Nicholas Maduro of the country’s migration crisis. He recalled that more than six million Venezuelans have left the territory, putting their lives at risk.
“In recent months, we have witnessed the dramatic testimonies of Venezuelans trying to cross the Darién. Girls and women raped. Dead and mutilated men along the way. Compatriots of all ages who die of hunger on this journey. The Darién Jungle is one of the most dangerous borders on the continent », he pointed out.
Call of Juan Pablo Guanipa
In this sense, he urged the countries of the region to “reflect” on the mechanisms of attention to the Venezuelan diaspora.
“It is not with visas or walls that Venezuelan migration is solved, it is by defeating Maduro and recovering democracy in Venezuela,” concluded.
In the first four months of the year, nearly 19,000 irregular migrants traveling to North America arrived in Panama following crossing the dangerous jungle of Darién, with Venezuelans being the predominant nationality, according to Panamanian government records.
During the second week of this month, four Venezuelan migrants died trying to cross this jungle, the opposition denounced.
According to the latest update of the Regional Interagency Coordination Platform for Refugees and Migrants from Venezuela (R4V), on July 12, approximately 6,150,000 people have left the country. Of this number, 5,090,000 live in Latin America and the Caribbean.
