In recent weeks, thousands of migrants, mainly from Venezuela, they arrived in Guatemala in their attempt to reach the United States; however, the law changes decreed by Washington and the measures that countries in the region have taken complicate their journey towards the so-called “American dream”.
In the midst of despair over the dozens of police checkpoints in Guatemala and Mexico, dozens of Venezuelans choose to return to their country.
This Wednesday, October 26, Guatevisión and Prensa Libre documented how a group of migrants took advantage of a checkpoint of the Municipal Transit Police (PMT) to ask for help with signs in hand or selling lollipops to raise a little money that allows them to buy air tickets back to their country, from where they left months ago.
“Help us get back to our country” and “my goal was to get to the US and we didn’t make it, I just want to take my family home, we are having a hard time.” These are some of the messages that the migrants placed on some posters.
Now the problem is that many left as a family and before doing so they sold everything they had in the hope of reaching the United States, but now they are left with nothing.
Javier Sambrano, a Venezuelan migrant, said that they left Venezuela on October 3, but when leaving the Darien jungle, on October 12, they realized that US laws had changed, so they chose to continue on their way to Guatemala; however, the lack of money to continue their route overwhelms them.
Also read: Why are there more citizens of Venezuela in Guatemala? This is the US plan for Venezuelan migrants
“We ask God to give us strength and resistance to return to our home in Venezuela”, said Sambrano, who said that all their resources have been spent and now they are forced to ask for help on the streets of Guatemala City.
“It has been very difficult for us, we have had to go out and ask for money, each return ticket to Venezuela costs US$750. We ask the population to put their hands on consciousness, because we had never done this,” he added.
He said they already have a flight scheduled for November 13, but that while that date arrives, they must avoid the dangers of the city streets, despite the fact that they are accompanied by their two youngest children.
During 2022, Guatemala has expelled 13 thousand 284 people who entered the territory irregularly, of which 77% are from Venezuela, according to immigration authorities.
Also read: “My family is there”: migrants desperate for not being able to advance to the US continue to be expelled from Guatemala
Jorge Sivira, another Venezuelan migrant, said that he left Caracas in search of reaching the United States, but he assures that the trip has not been easy during the month and a half that he has been traveling.
“It is something very hard, because one comes with a dream and arriving in Mexico and being told that it cannot happen is something very hard,” said Sivira, who added that, although the authorities give them a safe-conduct to return to Venezuela without passport, they must raise the money to pay for the ticket.
On October 13, after more than 150,000 Venezuelans arrived in the United States through the land border in a year, Washington imposed a new protocol to put a stop to this migratory wave, which also became a political controversy ahead of the mid-term elections.
Also read: Migration crisis: the passage of Venezuelans through Guatemala who seek to reach the United States increases by 92%.
The new regulations provide for the entry of 24,000 Venezuelans through a program that requires entry by air and endorsed by a sponsor. And thanks to an agreement, he will be able to expel to Mexico anyone who enters illegally through the land border.
Since Venezuela and the United States have not had diplomatic relations since 2019, little they could deport undocumented immigrants from that country.
