After walking along rural highways in southern México for two days, Venezuelan Wilber Pires spent what was supposed to be a day of rest for several thousand migrants traveling in a caravan, asking for help to buy medicine for his daughter
By Independent
Jun 9, 2022
After walking for two days along rural highways in southern México along with several thousand other migrants, Venezuelan Wilber Pires spent what was supposed to be a day of rest for the caravan asking for help to buy medicine for his daughter.
Two-year-old Valesca Pires was hospitalized in Huixtla overnight with a high fever. Other children in the extended family of 18 were sick as well and covered with mosquito bites. Under the roof of a covered court where migrants slept side-by-side on sheets spread over concrete, adults tended to battered feet after walking some 25 miles since departing Tapachula Monday.
“If it’s hard for an adult imagine it for her,” Pires said of his daughter.
Venezuelans make up a large proportion of this caravan, the biggest of the year, in contrast to previous ones. A factor appears to be a policy change implemented by México in January requiring Venezuelans to acquire a visa to enter the country.
Encounters with Venezuelans at the southwest border plunged from 22,779 in January to 3,073 in February, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. In April, the most recent month available, there were 4,103 encounters.
But the flow of Venezuelan migrants has continued. Since January, more than half of the 34,000 migrants who crossed the treacherous Darien Gap between Colombia and Panamá were Venezuelans, according to Panama’s National Migration Service.
The visa requirement drove the flow of Venezuelans into the shadows. Those traveling in the caravan are just the visible sign of who is traveling through México out of public view. Many other Venezuelans have likely turned to smugglers.
It was in January, the same month when México imposed the visa requirement, that Pires and other extended family members spread across two cities in Venezuela began a group chat on a messaging platform that would eventually lead to a decision months later to leave their country en masse.
Wildre Pires Álvarez, another cousin traveling with his wife and two children, said it took three months of discussion to decide to leave.
“I was earning $3 to $6 a week,” Pires Álvarez said. “But if you ask me how far that reached: a kilo of rice, a kilo of pasta, a kilo of beans and there went my $6.” Family members complained of frequent electrical blackouts, scarcity and a lack of basic services.
“The goal is the United States,” he said. “The dream is to work and be able to support more family members who stayed in Venezuela.”
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Read More: Independent – Venezuelans big presence in caravan after visa requirement
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