the drama of two families in Portuguese

It is October 21, 2024 and Santos Narvaes begins the day by publishing another post about his pain: his son Roger Alexander has been missing for 746 days. Relatives lost track of him on October 4, 2022, after he migrated to Medellín, Colombia.

It has been two years since the family He has no news about the young Portuguese. The last time they heard from him he only told them that he would carry out a business with cryptocurrencies in the Mayorca shopping center in that city. These relatives, already exhausted by time, do not stop reporting Roger’s disappearance on social networks. Although For the authorities it seems to be just another case, for his family he is a son, a nephew, a cousin who is not with them today.

Uncertainty is their daily bread. his father runs a campaign in social networks, with the hope that the case will not be forgotten and the search will continue. This young man worked as a tattoo artist, in Acarigua, where he is from, and also in Medellín, where he emigrated.

Roger’s family today demands that the investigations have greater speed and relevance, this demand is specifically referred to the Attorney General’s Office of Colombia, the Venezuelan Government and ask for the support of human rights organizations.

The official version of the entities is that it is a “forced disappearance”. Despite having identified people, vehicles, videos and telephone communications, The case remains without any progress, Narvaes commented, in a public letter addressed to the authorities, adding that the Venezuelan government has not provided support either.

In Portuguesa there are 5 missing people

It would be easy to say that this is an isolated case. However, in the midst of the humanitarian crisis that Venezuela has been going through for more than a decade, Thousands of young people from Portuguesa, as from all over the country, have been forced to leave their home behind in search of a better future. These displacements also carry devastating risks and many families are trapped in the anguish of not knowing the whereabouts of their loved ones.

Dangerous migratory route

This October 21, just a few weeks away from the anniversary of Roger’s disappearance, another family in Guanare faces a similar tragedy. One year has passed since the disappearance of four other young people. This time there are three adults and a girl about whom nothing more was heard. They were trying to cross the route to San Andrés Island, Colombia, another migratory route frequently used by Venezuelans. In these waters, shipwrecks caused by clandestine vessels have been reported. In 2023, authorities said that about 70 Venezuelan immigrants disappeared in San Andrés, after traveling on boats in precarious conditions and without security.

What is the San Andrés route like?

Due to this irregular step, the Migrants cross in boats to Nicaraguapaying for “tourist” packages offered by traffickers, with rates that vary between $1,500 and $4,000.

Leomarli Betania Morón Pieruzzini (27) risked passing through this dangerous route, who migrated, along with her husband Gonzalo Jesús Méndez Torres (30), her daughter Nicole Valentina Méndez Morón (7), and her cousin Rosmer Alberto Mujimac Parra (41 ). Their names appeared on the list of the 32 passengers of the boat that disappeared on the high seas and that left from the island of Saint Andrewon the night of Saturday, October 21, 2023.

They, along with another group of migrants, were traveling on a boat identified as IAS II, which left from the El Cove sector. On October 24, everyone was reported missing.

a pregnant woman

Leomarli Betania Morón Pieruzzini, was pregnant. Marcos Ortiz, a friend of the family, was one of the last people who spoke with the young people, minutes before the boat set sail from the island of San Andrés. The young people They took that route to avoid going the Dariendue to Leomarli’s pregnancy. Their intentions were to reach Mexico, stay at a relative’s house, and then cross the border to the United States, Ortiz said.

For months, the family of these young Guanareños asked the authorities of the countries involved (Colombia and Nicaragua), as well as the Government of Venezuela, to intensify the search. They still don’t have answers.

Although different in time and place, both stories share the suffering of Venezuelan families searching for their loved ones in the midst of uncertainty. In Portuguesa, hundreds of young people continue to migrate, driven by the need to survive. However, each trip can become a risk for migrants as well as desperation for their families.