(27 Sep 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Lajas Blancas, Panama – 26 September 2024
1. Boat carrying migrants approaching Lajas Blancas migrant camp
2. Aerial shot of boat carrying migrants approaching Lajas Blancas migrant camp
3. Migrants disembarking boat to enter Lajas Blancas camp
4. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Heidis Mudarra, Venezuelan Migrant:
++PARTIALLY COVERED BY SHOTS 2 AND 3++
"Well, I left my country after the elections, because things got very tough now, very hard, in the schools they no longer have classes or anything, the classes are virtual by WhatsApp. The children no longer had good learning and there is no work.”
5. Tents in migrant camp
6. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Enrique Dordis, Venezuelan Migrant:
++PARTIALLY COVERED BY SHOTS 5 AND 7++
"Well, we were waiting for the elections because if Maduro left, of course we would stay in Venezuela. But since I realize that nothing is changing, he is not leaving, we decided to leave. And that is what we are doing to look for a better future for our children. We wanted to stay in our country, but how can we do that if we don’t have enough money?"
7. Venezuelan migrant Enrique Dordis and son inside tent
8. Various of camp
STORYLINE:
Venezuelans trekking across the Darien Gap – a rugged jungle passage between Colombia and Panama – say they’re making the perilous journey because they’ve lost hope for change after the country’s contentious elections.
Last year, more than half a million migrants – a record number – crossed through the Darien on their way to the United States.
More than 60% of them were Venezuelans, who have fled economic and political turmoil by the millions.
Others stayed in the country held onto hope that their Andean home would someday bounce back to the good days once enjoyed by the oil-rich nation.
Venezuelan migration has since slowed along the border from the record levels, but for some, the disputed results of Venezuela’s July elections and the state repression that followed was the final straw.
It falls in line with projections before the elections that the results could potentially trigger a new wave of migration from Venezuela.
Venezuelans interviewed by the Associated Press said they had voted for a change, in this case for the candidate of the opposition bloc, Edmundo González.
Venezuelans have fled economic crisis for years, often heading to other South American nations like Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Chile and Ecuador, but most hoped to return or would visit family.
It was only more recently that they began to take the dangerous journey to the U.S., selling everything from motorcycles to household appliances.
"We were waiting for the elections because if Maduro left, of course we would stay in Venezuela,” said Enrique Dordis, 46, a former taxi driver in the central state of Carabobo.
Disenchanted by the outcome of the election, he decided to leave his native country with his 8-year-old son Emanuel, wife and four other family members.
"We wanted to stay in our country, but how can we do that if we don’t have enough money?"
Venezuelans continue to lead the flow of migrants through the Darien, despite migration slowing down compared to the crushing levels seem last year.
Panamanian authorities attribute the dip to the government’s decision to close several illegal entries through the jungle on the border with Colombia and a repatriation flight plan.
According to Panama’s National Migration Service, some 260,000 migrants crossed the Darien the first nine months of this year, a 35% compared to the same period last year.
AP video by Abraham Terán
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/d75fb3ac21044a4195ec24a97906d9f0
Author: AP Archive
Go to Source
News post in October 2, 2024, 3:04 am.
Visit Our Sponsor’s:
News Post In – News
