Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 21 March 2018

Northern Brazil overwhelmed by desperate, hungry Venezuelans

By PETER PRENGAMAN 30, said he came to Brazil
Associated Press several months ago with
PACARAIMA, Brazil (AP) — hopes of earning enough
Hungry and destitute, tens money so he and his high
of thousands of victims of school sweetheart could
Venezuela's unrelenting finally afford a wedding.
political and economic But each time he called
crisis are trying their luck in home to El Tigre, he would
Brazil — a country where hear the situation was get-
they do not speak the lan- ting worse, that their three
guage, conditions are of- children, ages 9, 5 and 1,
ten poor and there are few were always hungry. So he
border towns to receive decided to abandon wed-
them. ding plans and bring his
Many arrive to Brazil's north- family.
ern border weak from hun- "Kids in Venezuela today
ger and with no money for don't think about playing
a hotel, food or the $9 bus with their friends or what
ride to Boa Vista, the capi- they might study" in the
tal of the Brazilian state of university, said Delgado,
Roraima, known in Venezu- sitting with his children and
elan circles as a place that partner in a tent. "It's more,
offers three meals a day. In 'What am I going to eat to-
dozens of interviews over A Venezuelan family rests in a shelter set up inside the Tancredo Neves Gymnasium in Boa Vista, day?"
four days, many said they Roraima state, Brazil. Venezuelans are allowed to enter Brazil with just a national identification While the shelter offers
card, and those without one can enter with a birth certificate if they are granted refugee status,
had not had more than however, such "refugees" can't return to Venezuela after President Nicolas Maduro called them three meals a day, the fam-
one meal a day for the last "traitors" of the state. ily's prospects are bleak.
year. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) The soccer referee has only
Some wore baggy clothes, been able to officiate a
had emaciated faces and ta. her husband arrived from days. handful of games in rural
complained of medical is- "We are desperate. We Puerto Cabello, they have After walking 4 miles (6 ki- areas outside Boa Vista,
sues ranging from children could no longer buy food," not been able to find work. lometers), a Brazilian driver the kids are not in school
with measles to diabetics said 33-year-old Montero, With no money, they can't stopped agreed to give and it’s hard to imagine
with no insulin. adding it had been months take the bus to Boa Vista, them a lift to Boa Vista, how the family might leave
Kritce Montero tried to since Hector had any for- so they sleep on the ground where the situation is ar- the shelter.
shush 6-month-old Hec- mula or diapers. and scrounge for food dur- guably more desperate. “It’s like Tarzan being in
tor, who cried from hunger While in recent years mil- ing the day. Thousands of Venezuelans New York,” said Delgado.
even after breast-feeding lions of Venezuelans have "This is horrible," said Don- are living in the streets. Brazilian authorities esti-
while his family and sev- immigrated, until recently Quis through tears, adding They sleep in tents and on mate 40,000 Venezuelans
eral hundred other Ven- Brazil received relatively that in two months she had benches in central squares, are living in Boa Vista, ac-
ezuelans waited to be pro- few of them. Hundreds of been unable to send mon- have taken over aban- counting for over 12 per-
cessed at the border. thousands have gone to ey home to her children, doned buildings and cram cent of the population in a
Montero, who said she lost Colombia, but authorities ages 12 and 14, who she dozens of people into small city that was already poor
57 pounds (26 kilograms) there and elsewhere in left with a sister. apartments. and unable to offer many
the last year from eating South America are tighten- With no money for a bus, The largest of three shelters opportunities to its resi-
just one meal a day, trav- ing their borders. Jose Guillen, 48, and wife in the city, Tancredo, has dents.
eled with Hector and her Portuguese-speaking Brazil July Bascelta, 44, decided 700 people despite being Most have arrived in the
7-year-old daughter 18 has become the latest al- to begin the journey to Boa equipped for 200. Half- last several months, put-
hours by bus from Maturin, ternative for Venezuelans. Vista at night on foot, set- naked children roam the ting intense pressure on the
a city in northeast Venezue- But they are not finding ting off with 9-year-old twins former gymnasium while public health system, the
la. After spending the night much comfort there. Angel and Ashley along a groups of men and wom- jails and volunteer organi-
sleeping on the ground in On a recent day, Militza road surrounded by forest. en chat about their hopes zations and churches that
Pacaraima, a dusty border DonQuis, 38, sat under a "God will provide," said for finding work and worry are carrying the largest
town in the Amazon, they tree on the side of the main Guillen when asked how about the families they left burden when it comes to
took another bus 130 miles road in Pacaraima. In the the family would eat dur- in Venezuela. keeping Venezuelans fed.
(210 kilometers) to Boa Vis- two months since she and ing a trip that can take five Charlie Ivan Delgado, q