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WORLD NEWS Saturday 10 OctOber 2020

Venezuelans once again fleeing on foot as troubles mount

By MARIANA PALAU and Milena Guerrero, an official
MANUEL RUEDA for the International Rescue
PAMPLONA, Colombia (AP) Committee, a humanitar-
— Eleazar Hernández slept ian non-profit organization
on a sidewalk amid a light helping migrants.
drizzle, temperatures that What's more, many are
dipped close to freezing now forced to walk within
and the roar of passing their own country for days
trucks. to reach the border due to
The 23-year-old Venezu- gas shortages that have di-
elan migrant was trying to minished transportation be-
make it to the Colombian tween cities.
city of Medellin with his Hernández said it took him
wife, who is seven months a week to walk from his
pregnant. hometown of Los Teques to
But the couple had run out Colombia.
of money for transportation "I can't allow my daughter
by the time they reached to be born in a place where
Pamplona, a small moun- she might have to go to
tain town over 300 miles bed hungry," he said, while
(482 km) away from their registering with a humani-
final destination. Unable to tarian group that handed
buy a bus ticket, Hernández out backpacks with food
pinned his hopes on catch- Venezuelan migrants rest as they receive free food, in front of passages from the Bible in Pam- and hats for cold weather.
ing a ride on the back of a plona, Colombia, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020, a few hours by car from the Venezuelan border. Once in Colombia, the mi-
truck. It was the safest way Associated Press grants typically walk along
to cross the Paramo de Ber- highways or wait to hitch a
lin, a freezing plateau lo- immigration officials ex- Montilla, a cook from the ezuelans returned to their ride. But that's also become
cated at 13,000 feet (4,000 pect 200,000 Venezuelans Venezuelan state of Guari- country, where at least harder.
meters). to enter the country in the co who was approaching they'd have a roof over "It's been very tough," said
"My wife can barely walk," months ahead, enticed by Colombia's capital after their heads. Montilla, who was still 200
said Hernández, who had the prospects of earning traveling with her family for Today, official land and miles (321 km) away from
spent four days sleeping on higher wages and sending 27 days. bridge crossings into Co- her final destination. "But
Pamplona's sidewalks. "We money back to Venezuela Before the pandemic, over lombia are still closed, at least with a job in Co-
need transport to get us to feed their families. 5 million Venezuelans had compelling migrants to flee lombia, we can afford
out of here." The new migrants are en- left their country, accord- through illegal pathways new shoes and clothes. We
After months of COVID-19 countering decidedly more ing to the United Nations. along the porous 1,370- couldn't do that in Venezu-
lockdowns that halted one adverse conditions than The poorest left on foot, mile (2,200-kilometer) bor- ela."
of the world's biggest mi- those who fled their home- walking through a terrain der with Venezuela. The dirt One lengthy stretch of road
gration movements in re- land before COVID-19. that is often scorching but roads are controlled by vio- connecting the border city
cent years, Venezuelans Shelters remain closed, can also get frigidly cold. lent drug trafficking groups of Cucuta to Bucaraman-
are once again fleeing drivers are more reluctant As governments across and rebel organizations ga further inland used to
their nation's economic to pick up hitchhikers and South America shut down like the National Liberation be home to 11 shelters for
and humanitarian crisis. locals who fear contagion their economies in hopes Army. migrants. Most have been
Though the number of peo- are less likely to help out of stopping the spread of "The return of Venezuelan ordered to close by munici-
ple leaving is smaller than with food donations. COVID-19, many migrants migrants is already hap- pal governments trying to
at the height of the Vene- "We hardly got any lifts found themselves without pening even though the contain coronavirus infec-
zuelan exodus, Colombian along the way," said Anahir work. Over 100,000 Ven- border is closed," said Ana tions. q

Drought depletes Paraguay River, a country's lifeline

ASUNCION, Paraguay (AP) vessel traffic on the Para- nounced the lifting of the
— The Paraguay River has guay River, causing signifi- strictest parts of its pan-
reached its lowest level in cant cost overruns for the demic-related lockdown,
half a century after months transport of fuel, fertilizer, but hopes of a resurgence
of extreme drought in the food and other imported of economic activity have
region, exposing the vulner- goods. The crisis has also been undermined by the
ability of landlocked Para- exposed the precarious- river problem, Giménez
guay's economy. ness of Paraguay's access said. Esteban dos Santos,
Some 85% percent of Para- to drinking water. president of the Paraguay-
guay's foreign trade is con- "We have never had a situ- an Shipowners' Center, said
ducted via the river, which ation as serious as the one losses in Paraguay's river
has been depleted be- we are experiencing now. transport sector have al-
cause of a lack of rainfall in We are approaching the ready reached $250 million.
the Pantanal area of Mato end of the year, a time "What worries us the most is
Grosso state in Brazil. The when more products must that the river is going down A fisherman searches for eels in the mud of the dried up Par-
river flows from that area enter," Nery Giménez, pres- at a rate of 3 or 4 centime- aguay River in Chaco-i, across the river from Asuncion, Para-
and also runs through Bo- ident of the Paraguayan ters (1.2 to 1.6 inches) per guay, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2020.
livia and Argentina. Importers Center, told The day. The navigation situa- Associated Press
The fall in the water level Associated Press. tion is critical. In a week, no
has slowed down cargo The government had an- boat will be able to reach Asunción, "dos Santos said.q