Venezuelan migrants make long trek back home
A couple pushing their 6-month-old twins in a stroller. A family with their life’s belongings stuffed into one large cloth sack. Young boys and girls sleeping beneath makeshift tents, their mouths covered with face masks.
These are some of the thousands of Venezuelans who fled their homeland hoping for a brighter future abroad and are now trying to get back home.
A severe economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic has dashed the dreams of countless Venezuelans who fled their crisis-torn country in what had been one of the largest mass migrations anywhere in recent years.
Now Colombia migration authorities estimate nearly 75,000 have made the journey back, traveling tiring miles by foot and bus. Many are arriving at the border crossing in the city of Cucuta only to find they will have to wait longer: Authorities in Venezuela allow only a few hundred to enter and just on three days a week.
Yuliana Rodriguez holds her daughter as she poses for a photo with her mother Lizet Vivas, with their few belongings outside the tent where they have been living in a park since the start of the month with other jobless Venezuelan migrants near the bus station in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, June 10, 2020. Rodriguez, a single mother, a housewife, left behind her mother and daughter in their native city of Merida two and a half years ago, to travel to Ecuador where she found work in sales. The three reunited in Oct. 2019 in Bogota, but amid the lockdown to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, they are penniless and are hoping for economic help to get home. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
In recent weeks, hundreds have built an encampment in Colombia’s capital, using black plastic tarps for makeshift tents. The migrants in Bogota are waiting to be bused to the border. Officials are trying to avoid a sudden massing of people at the border crossing, a potential public health hazard.
Colombia Migration Director Juan Espinosa said about 15,000 Venezuelans nationwide are trying to make their way back home. That is a small slice of the estimated 1.8 million Venezuelans now living in Colombia.
The government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro claims a number of that country's coronavirus infections stem from returning migrants. Colombia’s government says it is trying to ensure their right to return to their homeland.
For now, the stranded travelers wait in chilly Bogota, bundled up in coats and blankets as the night sets in.
Like many, Darwin Herrera lost his job loading goods on and off trucks after migrating with his wife to Bogota two years ago. Now they don’t have cash to pay for a bus ride and are left with their infant twins hoping for a helping hand.
“I want to get back to Venezuela because I don’t want this life for our twins,” he said.
Darwin Herrera, left, and his wife Jennifer Repelo pose with their six-month-old twins and luggage outside their tent in a park where they have been living since the end of May with other jobless Venezuelan migrants near the bus station in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, June 10, 2020. From Venezuela’s Carabobo state, the former construction and courier migrated to Bogota two years ago, where Herrera found work unloading and loading trucks. The economic lockdown to contain the COVID-19 pandemic left Herrera without a job, and unable to pay rent. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Nelson Martinez, left, his wife Makelys Faneite, center, and sister Maryuri Alvarez, pose for a photo with their children outside their tent in a park where they have been living with other jobless Venezuelan migrants since the start of the month near the bus station in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, June 10, 2020. The family left their native Portuguese state two years ago by foot for Ecuador, where Nelson worked as a bricklayer, and Makelys was a street vendor. Jobless amid the lockdown to curb the COVID-19 pandemic in Ecuador, they walked to Bogota as they attempt to reach home. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Manuel Gomez and his wife Dugleidys Leal pose for a photo with their belongings outside the tent where they have been living in a park for a week with other jobless Venezuelan migrants near the bus station in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, June 10, 2020. The former fisherman and housewife left their native Falcon state, Venezuela two years ago, when they migrated to Barranquilla, then Santa Marta, and eventually Bogota where Manuel made money as a recycler of used materials. Without work amid the lockdown to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, they are trying to get home. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Luis Linares, 71, right, his wife Vilmara Lopez, 54, second from right, pose with their children and grandchildren outside the tent where they have been living in a park with other jobless Venezuelan migrants since the start of the month near the bus station in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, June 10, 2020. The former construction worker and home-based restaurant owner moved their family from Caracas to Barranquilla two years ago but eventually went to Bogota where Luis worked as a street vendor, and Vilmara worked in a restaurant. Amid the lockdown to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, they are now jobless and trying to get home. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Maicol Hernandez, left, and his wife Railin Hernandez pose with their son Elieker Hernandez outside their tent in a park where they have been living with other jobless Venezuelan migrants since the end of May, near the bus station in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, June 10, 2020. The former motorcycle mechanic and housewife left their native Merida two years ago when they traveled on foot to Lima, Peru, where he worked at a restaurant and fruit store. When the lockdown to contain the COVID-19 pandemic left Hernandez without work, they again walked, this time to Bogota, as they try to make it home. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Liliana Hidalgo and Abrahan Gonzalez pose with their daughter, sitting, and two nieces outside their tent in a park where they have been living since late May with other jobless Venezuelan migrants near the bus station in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, June 10, 2020. Two years ago, the professional bread makers left their hometown of Puerto Ayacucho, Amazonas state, to migrate to Peru where he found a job in a restaurant and she worked selling clothes. But when they found themselves jobless amid the lockdown to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, the family walked to Bogota and started living here with other Venezuela-bound migrants. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Yimmy Oriquin, right, his wife Yesica Marquez and children pose for a photo with their belongings outside the tent where they have been living in a park since the end of last month with other jobless Venezuelan migrants near the bus station in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, June 10, 2020. The former bus driver and accountant left their home town of San Cristobal two and a half years ago for Bogota, where he found work as a painter while she cared for their kids. Without work amid the lockdown to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, they are trying to get home. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Fredy Pena and his wife Maria Burgos pose with their children outside the tent where they have been living in a park since the start of the month with other jobless Venezuelan migrants near the bus station in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, June 10, 2020. The carpenter and housewife left their native Barquisimeto, Venezuela two years ago for Cali, where he worked washing cars. Now jobless amid the lockdown to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, they are trying to get home. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Jessica Flores poses with her son Luisiany outside their tent in a park where they have been living since the end of May with other jobless Venezuelan migrants near the bus station in Bogota, Colombia, Wednesday, June 10, 2020. The former lawyer left her native Puerto Ayacucho in Amazonas state in late 2019 and met her husband and their other son in Bogota, a few months before the lockdown to curb the COVID-19 pandemic. Her husband and older son left the encampment to walk to Venezuela, as she waits for a possible ride home. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Photos and text from AP News story, AP PHOTOS: Venezuelan migrants make long trek back home, by Fernando Vergara.