Darien Gap

Over the years I’ve posted events or issues of immediate concern regarding Venezuela. My lack of ongoing follow-ups on those is simply due to the nature of this blog, which is not current events or news, but rather more of an interest in lesser known background and historical material.

Nevertheless, every once in a while, it is good to update certain matters raised in past posts.

Acosta Arevalo (2019)

This post’s title covers the essence: “Venezuelan Navy Captain Dies After Signs of Torture”. His autopsy revealed 38 torture related injuries. To this day, no one has been prosecuted for this atrocity. And that is one reason why such abominations have persisted. The latest that we know of is the case of Rocío San Miguel who in February of this year was arrested in Maiquetía, the international airport which serves Caracas, as she and her daughter were about to board a plane for a short trip to Miami. She has become one of the many “forced disappearances” in that stricken land. Last we know is that she has been charged for terrorism and conspiracy (seems that such charges are favorites of an entrenched ruling class) and is now in the Helicoide, a notorious detention center known for the brutality of its caretakers. In short, the brazen illegal and immoral treatment of the Navy captain has become a portent of worse events thereafter.

As a side note, the Helicoide was almost completed during the presidency of Marcos Pérez Jiménez. However, the army-led coup put off the completion for decades as the structure originally intended as a futuristic shopping mall with drive-in boutiques — with all spaces pre-sold, providing sufficient financing for its construction — became a state-owned torture chamber.

Humanitarian Crisis (2019) Darien Gap (2022)

The situation has worsened but at least its reality is better known than the inhumane treatment of citizens who have fallen into the clutches of the Communist dictatorship. It is very unfortunate that many who have crossed the Darien Gap and reached our borders do not mean us well. Unfortunate because many more do mean us well and are simply grateful to have been able to escape Venezuela.

It is difficult for us to appreciate the difficulty — physically and psychologically — of many thousands good folks who escape. Venezuelans are similar to Russians in this regard. They do not see themselves ever leaving their land. The pull is just too strong. They are like Dr. Zhivago: “He’ll never leave, [no matter how disastrously he has been treated].” However, the situation has become so unbearable that many have indeed taken the fateful step to go. I know one head of family who always told me, “I will never leave. No reason to do so.” He is now in another country along with his wife and children. There comes a time when one must take steps previously inconceivable.

Elections (2020)

Venezuela is headed to presidential elections on July 28 of this year (2024). However, shameless attempts to game the results since the early 21st Century have left the Venezuelan people worse than jaded. They “know” elections mean nothing in their country.

Nevertheless, there is palpable excitement this year and the hope is that the results will be so overwhelming for the opposition that the usual shenanigans won’t succeed. Many, however, are not so sanguine. Since the early 2000s the regime has muscled through ultracrepidarian power plays which have placed the counting of the votes in their own hands. Stalin was known to have said: “I consider it completely unimportant who will vote, or how; but what is extraordinarily important is this — who will count the votes, and how (cited by his former secretary, Boris Bazhanov).”

I believe Venezuelans will vote this year, even if the opposition candidate lands in the Helicoide. But we will have to wait and see how the vote counting goes.

Essequibo (2024)

The war drums on the part of the Venezuela ruling class against the people of Guyana has not receded. However, the silence on this issue on the part of western media is deafening. The issue is alive and threatening, right in our own back yard, while we are invited to “Look! A squirrel!” towards Ukraine and the Middle East.

Throughout history all self-described Socialist regimes have promoted wars, not only against their own peoples but against other countries. Venezuela is no exception.

In addition, as is well-known, in the last two or three years the United States strategic oil reserves have been depleted to an unheard of level. Should there be oil disruptions because of a Venezuela – Guyana conflict coupled with Middle Eastern uncertainty (Saudi Arabia’s king has been hospitalized), we could experience disruptions not seen in many years.

When we pray for our friends in Venezuela, we also pray for ourselves in the United States.

Chile and Venezuela Contrast (2019)

In 2019, economist Steve Hanke published a short video on X (formerly Twitter) that is still relevant today. True, Chile has since again succumbed to the Socialist siren call but not to Venezuela’s degree.

Here is the Hanke video, which is worth another look:

Steve Hanke on X: “#Chile liberalized its economy and enjoys a high quality of life and freedom. #Venezuela embraced socialism and is now one of the world’s poorest nations and under a dictatorship. https://t.co/rzGzYyX9VI” / X

The Helicoide

Darien Gap

Essequibo River

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.