Venezuelans travel by sea primarily to cross to Trinidad and Tobago, where they seek basic necessities and a better quality of life. Many migrants undertake perilous journeys, often under dangerous conditions, to secure essential goods like food and medicine. The process typically involves crossing treacherous waters, and many face risks such as capsized boats and other maritime dangers. Despite the challenges, these journeys are driven by economic desperation...
Venezuelans continue to undertake dangerous boat journeys to Trinidad and Tobago, usually departing either from Tucupita or Güiria. Migrants have told me that the cost of the trip ranges between USD $100 to USD $300. Fishing boats—almost always overloaded with between 15 to 30 passengers—are used to transport migrants. While the voyage, in theory, should take only about half an hour, the actual journey takes days, since smugglers have to avoid vessels from both the Venezuelan and Trinidadian coast guards. Migrants leaving Venezuela from Tucupita normally wait for several days before departure in an area called La Barra, where the Warao—an Indigenous group that inhabits Venezuela’s Orinoco Delta region—provide refuge until the coast is clear. When they arrive in Trinidad, migrants land at different locations across the southwestern peninsula of the island of Trinidad; by the time they arrive, transportation is organized to take them to their families and friends in various parts of the country. According to a recent article in the Trinidad Guardian, “[…] 91 illegal ports were identified around [Trinidad and Tobago]. This was mapped out by the T&T Coast Guard. An eight-month human trafficking investigation in the Caribbean by Dr. Justine Pierre unearthed an expansive human trafficking and smuggling ring involving senior law enforcement officers in [Trinidad and Tobago] who assist with entry.”
https://globalamericans.org/tragedies-at-sea-venezuelan-migrants-continue-to-flock-to-trinidad-and-tobago-despite-border-closure/
Venezuelans Risk Crossing Sea to Get Basics
As Venezuela's economy crumbles, desperate people are doing all they can to get food and medicine. Here that can involve great peril. Venezuelans make trips as long as 10 hours to hawk shellfish, plastic chairs, house doors,
ceramic pots and even exotic animals like iguanas and brightly feathered macaws. They are exchanged for basic goods like rice, detergent, diapers that Caracas is increasingly unable to provide.
"It's thanks to Trinidad that we have any food here," said 49 year-old Angela Caballero, a resident of this town on a peninsula that extends toward the island. "If that didn't come, we'd be dead."
https://studylib.net/doc/25424804/venezuela
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