Venezuelans crossing the Darien Gap say they lost hope after July's election

LAJAS BLANCAS, Panama (AP) — Venezuelans trekking across the Darien Gap – a rugged jungle passage between Colombia and Panama – say they're making the perilous journey because they lost hope for change after a contentious presidential election handed victory to President Nicolás Maduro despite vote tallies released by the opposition showing that his competitor won by a landslide.

“We stayed waiting for the election (results) because if Maduro left (power) then we would stay. But nothing happened,” said Enrique Dordis, 46, a former cab driver from the central state of Carabobo, who left Venezuela last week with his wife, an 8-year-old son, Emanuel, and four other family members.

Tucked in a tent in the Lajas Blancas camp, he reflected Thursday on the raging rivers and heavy downpours the family had to face in their four-day trek across the dense jungle, once believed to be nearly impossible to cross. “Money is not enough. You get desperate and you have to look for a better future for your children,” he said.

Last year, more than half a million migrants – a record number – crossed through the Darien on their way to the United States. More than 60% of them were Venezuelans fleeing economic and political turmoil by the millions. Those who didn’t migrate held onto hope that their country, once one of Latin America’s wealthiest, would someday bounce back.

While migration from Venezuela has since slowed along the border from record levels, the disputed results of the July election and the state repression that followed was the final straw, and many fear it could potentially trigger a new wave of migration.

“We feel very disappointed after the election, which was a total fraud,” said Rosimar Angulo, a Venezuelan staying with other migrants in a small Red Cross reception center on Thursday morning at the mouth of the jungle passage.

Angulo arrived in the camp after traveling by boat from Bajo Chiquito, where migrants make their first registration with Panamanian authorities, after trudging days through the jungle on foot.

“It’s getting harder and harder, our relatives are getting sick,” Angulo said, as a fellow traveler was carried on a stretcher by members of the Red Cross.

Like Angulo, many of the Venezuelans arriving to Lajas Blancas said that they made the decision to leave shortly after Venezuela’s electoral authority handed victory to Maduro, despite vote tallies released by the opposition showing that his competitor won by a landslide.

More than half a dozen Venezuelan migrants interviewed said they held out until several weeks after the election, hoping for a favorable outcome for opposition candidate Edmundo González — who has since left the country — and encouraged by street demonstrations led by leader María Corina Machado.

“For us, the same government winning again means there will be no improvement in the country,” said Laura Naveda, a migrant traveling with 13 family members, including several children.

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