By 
Since the beginning of the social, political and economic crisis in Venezuela, Venezuelans have been fleeing their country in search of basic necessities in order to survive not for luxuries or touristic purposes. A few have knocked on Guyana’s door, mostly women, and they have been treated like common criminals. Have we forgotten about the thousands of Guyanese who fled Guyana through illegal means yet were treated with far more kindness and tolerance by far off nations? As someone who was a child during the 80’s I am wondering if our crisis is even comparable to what is occurring in Venezuela: starvation, reports of even cannibalism in the prisons, widespread looting, murder and mayhem.
There are hundreds of news articles, videos and pictures showing the world the chaos and humanitarian disaster occurring in this nation. Most of the reports are from highly respected international news agencies such as the BBC, New York times, Reuters, CNN and Al Jazeera. Some Guyanese even doubt these reports, sometimes when the news doesn’t fit with our agenda we deny the credibility to absolve ourselves from empathizing.
Often, we read about the poor Venezuelan women in search of food for their children being arrested, charged, fined, jailed then deported. How are they going to get the money to pay the fines when they cannot even buy food? If these women had money would they be in poor English-speaking Guyana in the first place? The Venezuelan Bolivar is practically worthless, the government has actually launched a cryptocurrency.
What form of humanitarian aid has Guyana provided for our suffering next door neighbours? Is any aid agency or NGO providing basic food stuff or any sort of help to the few who flee to our country? It is easy to say that those who wish to come here should do so through legal means however, when a country is in a state of chaos how are starving penniless people suppose to afford ‘luxury travel?’ We are basically sending a message that Guyana does not help refugees and we do not welcome the poor.
Other countries in South America have shown far more compassion especially Colombia which has accepted thousands of Venezuelans. We get 2-digit figures and they are promptly rounded up, publicly humiliated, fined or imprisoned and then swiftly deported. Can’t we show a bit of compassion? We can at least allow women, children and families into the country on a temporary basis until the situation in their country improves. By criminalizing the helpless they become prey and are exploited by real criminals that are always ready to pounce. The reality is that many Venezuelan children and women have become livestock for traffickers and other criminals. The ABC countries and Europe has been accepting thousands of Refugees from far-flung places why can’t Guyana help a few from next door?
I personally know far more Guyanese living in the USA and other countries illegally or who entered through illegal means and have now become citizens than whose who did everything by the book. When we had our own political situation, thousands fled ‘the backtrack’/ illegal way. Presently, although the state of affairs here is quite ‘normal’ people continue to use their tourist visas as if these were green cards and they overstay. They are economic migrants and thousands before were economic migrants yet they were not rounded up and deported by foreign nations. They walk the streets, work and attend school without fear. Eventually many will become citizens of those countries so why can’t we be empathetic and show a bit of compassion to the starving Venezuelans?
(The article above was published as a ‘Letter to the Editor’ in a daily newspaper).
On the same day I read another news story of Venezuelan women being arrested and charged with illegal entry into Guyana. This is a reoccurring theme. I have not heard nor read of any sort of humanitarian assistance being offered by the Government of Guyana towards the Venezuelans who come here or of any program in place to address this issue. I wrote another missive on this issue which was also published.
The internet is littered with many videos, articles and pictures from the world’s leading news agencies showing the very real crisis in that country. Below I have added some of the many videos that are online with eye-witness accounts. This crisis started a few years ago and has only worsened.
