This year (2022), between January and July, the Organization of American States (OAS) estimates that more than 45,000 Venezuelans have crossed the Darien Gap. As opposed to immigrants from other countries (Haiti, Uzbekistan, Central American nations, and more) the US Department of State has imposed visa requirements on Venezuelans that are practically impossible for most to meet. We have also pressured other countries in Central America to do likewise, the latest one to fall in line being Costa Rica. In March, as reported by The Washington Examiner, Mexico “has successfully put a stop to the trend of Venezuelans flying into its airports and then [going] to the United States after more than 100,000 were stopped at the border since last summer.”

What this means is that Venezuelans who survive the jungles, seas, and rivers just to get to the Darien Gap where they then cross a trackless wall of jungle 70 miles wide, are under the added pressures of bureaucracies who are determined to keep them from arriving and entering the United States.

Over 6.8 MILLION Venezuelans have emigrated from the Socialist Paradise, most finding refuge in Colombia, Peru, and Chile. But hundreds of thousands have headed elsewhere, including the United States, despite the almost insurmountable odds. The number of Venezuelan refugees exceed their Syrian and Ukrainian counterparts who are fleeing the devastation of wars in their homelands.

Venezuelans are fleeing another type of war: a war against man in the image of God. That is a war that never ends ends well: over 150 million deaths by Stalin, Mao, Ho, Pol Pot, Castro, and more in the 20th Century alone [see The Black Book of Communism]. (And that is in addition to the millions of deaths in the two world wars and all the hot wars such as Korea, Vietnam, and more.)

And so they, and others, seek to shorten their crossing of the Darien Gap by getting to Necocli on the eastern Colombian shores of the Gulf of Uraba. There they seek and pay unknown coyotes to cross the gulf to Acandi, on the western shores of the gulf. And there they either acquire the services of “guides” or other coyotes to cross the Gap, or just strike out on their own into the forbidding jungles.

It is a most frightfully hazardous crossing whose fatalities can only be guessed at. Besides treacherous rapids and muddy mountain sides and cliffs the refugees are easy prey to criminal gangs and cartels as well as poisonous snakes and other beasts. It is estimated that nine Venezuelans per hour cross the Gap, with at least 15 Venezuelans reported to have died trying to cross, in 2022 alone. Despite widespread reports of women and children being victims of rape and murder, they keep trying. Many have not lived to tell the tale. 

Following are some of the tales of horror:

In January of this year, “María” [true name withheld] and other women, including a 13-year-old girl, were raped by seven men who then yelled, “Run, go! Else we will shoot you in the back!”

“María” and her companions did make it to Panama. The following bullets tell of just a few who did not.

Marine Carolina Castellano Suárez, 26 years old, was with her husband and minor son when she was swept away by the currents of a swift river. She was killed when her head struck a rock.

In March, Andreína Chiquinquirá Acosta who journeyed with her young son, fell utterly exhausted and died despite the efforts of her fellow refugees to revive her.

Merimar Paola Gómez Díaz successfully crossed the Darien Gap after walking for thirteen days, but was felled by cardiac arrest upon arriving at Bajo Chiquito in Panama. She was with her husband, three children, and mother.

In April Giovanni Prado died of a heart attack in the Darien jungles. His body was at a three hour distance from the nearest village; his daughter begged for help to recover his remains.

In June, Wilmer Monterola died in the Darien jungle after languishing there for 15 days with a broken leg, unable to move.

Anhelo José Montilla Godoy, 26, died on June 9, having reached refuge in San Vicente, Panama, but suffering cardiac arrest shortly thereafter.

In July, Luz Asleidys Steile Arguelles and her minor daughter, Lusied Antonella Chirinos Steile drowned in rapids as they sought to cross. Their relatives confirmed the deaths upon viewing a video of the bodies.

Freddy Alejandro Lira died of exhaustion in the Darien Gap in July: a reporter shared a video of Mr. Lira seated on the jungle ground in critical condition shortly before his death.

Luis Leonardo Cardozo Montilla, 34, was seeking to go to Utah where he had relatives. He did not make it across the Gap; he died in July.

José Gerardo Díaz died in July after being struck by a poisonous snake.

Daniel Rodríguez, after fruitlessly seeking to come legally to see his son, finally decided to come through the jungles. He was felled by a cardiac arrest in July as he sought to make it through the Darien jungles.

“Gabriel” [name withheld to protect friends and family still in Venezuela] who traversed the journey with his wife, two young children, and a cousin, did make it. He had gathered $8,000 over many months and by the time they arrived at the Rio Bravo, which they crossed illegally, they had used every penny. They turned themselves in and are now in Texas with legal status, working hard, and grateful to Americans. “I do not recommend crossing the Darien; it is a hell on earth. But I have no regrets. I am here and my wife and children are with me. I could never leave them behind. You leave with what is necessary and by the time you arrive, you have nothing. But you have your life.”

An educated guess for this state of affairs where the world’s migrants are incentivized to come in illegally, but not Venezuelans, is that Venezuelans know what Socialism — with or without a human face — actually does to a country and its people. We can’t have that, can we.

This state of affairs has discouraged my compratiotas, but it has not deterred them.