The Journey of a Venezuelan Migrant Who Crossed the Darién Jungle -Part 1

Darmis Barrios is one of the 2,896,748 Venezuelan refugees and migrants who have sought refuge in Colombia. The neighbouring country has become the world's leading host nation for Venezuelan migration. According to a study conducted by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Venezuelan migrants and refugees in Colombia generated an economic impact equivalent to 529.1 million in 2022.

7.7 million Venezuelans have their own unique story to tell about their departure, they share common reasons for leaving everything behind to embark on a migration journey: a communist goverment, economic crisis, insecurity and violence, political turmoil, deteriorating public services, an uncertain future, lack of opportunities, and the desire for family reunification. These factors have driven them to abandon one of the countries with the largest oil reserves in the world.

Today's blog is dedicated to everyone who crosses the Darién jungle, to those who have risked their lives in search of new opportunities, especially the many children who have experienced this situation without having a choice. Today, I share the story of Darmis Barrios and his migration journey, and I invite you to sit down, immerse yourself in a real story, and most importantly, share it.

Photos shared by Darmis and his song

Colombia: The First Step in the Migration Route

“I’m from Maracay. I left at the end of November 2016. I was working in Venezuela at a construction materials company in the logistics department, where I had been for about 12 years. Everything was going as usual until the country’s economic situation began to decline. My job no longer covered my basic needs. This led me to decide to work for myself in a taxi service. I worked with my car, and one day the clutch broke down. When I went to buy the replacement part, it was more expensive than what the car had cost me just a few months earlier.”

This is what Darmis told me in response to the first question: “What made you leave Venezuela?” During the interview, he shared that he had no time to plan his migration and left for Colombia with just a backpack, embarking on a two-day bus journey. A relative awaited him in Bogotá, where they would help him a find job opportunity.

I invite you to watch the following video, which shows the two-day overland journey that Darmis undertook to reach Colombia.

“Four days after I arrived, I already had a job at a meat and offal distributor, where I worked for approximately two years. Initially, things were fine, but later they became irresponsible with payments. I was living day-to-day, earning the bare minimum, and had to send money back to Venezuela for my mother, wife, and children.”

Most migrants who arrive in a country as refugees or asylum seekers are unaware of their rights and don’t have the time to consider them. They suffer from labour exploitation due to the irregularities in their legal documentation. Companies often take advantage of migrants' desperation.

Darmis told me, “I would start work at 7:30 am, and sometimes it would be 8 or 9 at night, and I was still working without being paid for overtime. I worked for the same salary. You were supposed to get paid on the 15th, but often the last day of the next month would come, and I still hadn’t been paid for the previous fortnight.”

According to a United Nations report, employers of migrants, especially those in irregular situations, exercise exclusive social control that facilitates their exploitation. These employers can impose long hours of exhausting work and pay wages far below the minimum or sometimes not pay at all, knowing that migrants, out of fear or ignorance, won’t report them. This control is heightened by migrants' lack of community and family support, as well as their limited knowledge of the language and local laws.

After six years in Colombia, Darmis decided to seek new opportunities again and embark on a second migration due to the situation with the new government in Colombia and the insecurity in the country. His wife had been robbed of nine mobile phones, and during one of these incidents, she experienced a truly traumatic situation.

Mariera, Darmis’ wife, who was present during the interview, recounted, “He started hitting me, and I said to him, ‘I could be your mother.’ The guy said, ‘I’m working,’ and from his accent, I recognised he was Venezuelan. He hit me; I wet myself from the beating. I never experienced such violence in Venezuela; I was only robbed once.”

Experiencing this made Darmis prepare for the next step: crossing the Darién jungle in search of reaching the United States.

7th October 2022, a desperate escape through the Darién

“If you think about it, you won’t do it because deciding to cross the Darién is truly difficult. I neither recommend nor advise it to anyone.”

Darmis decided to leave Bogotá with a group of eight people, including his son and two girls, one aged 3 and the other 7. The group’s goal was to reach the southern border of the United States and seek asylum, inspired by the stories they had heard from other migrants who successfully crossed the border and settled in the U.S. Darmis told me he sold everything he had and converted it into dollars to undertake this second migration.

Darmis and his song

“When we arrived in Acandí (Acandí is a town in Colombia bordering Panama and the Caribbean Sea), there were thousands of people of different nationalities: Colombians, Dominicans, Asians, people from India and Pakistan, but the majority were Venezuelans, sleeping on the streets, on the pavements, in tents. Some people had been there for days, weeks, months. We had some money, but there were people who arrived there with nothing. There were also disabled people, blind people, and people of different ages, including the elderly. You have to pay for a boat that takes 40 minutes and costs $100, and it takes you from Acandí to the starting point of the walk. It took us a day to get a ticket.”

Each of these boats carries approximately 50 to 60 people. Darmis explained to me that there is no police regulation in the Colombian area.

“We took the boat, which took us to a point where we were organised into groups and taken to a farm where we had lunch, then we were transferred to another point, which was the base camp, where we spent the night. The next morning, at five or six, we had to start the walk towards the Darién route.”

They carried a backpack with essential items: food, medicine, and a tent. They couldn’t carry too much. Damian experienced his first setback on the first day of the hike: “I lost the bag with my food and medicine. I realised it after walking for many hours. That first day, there were more than 2,500 people.”

“You start walking from dawn until dusk. You follow a river course. I wore rubber boots; there was a lot of humidity in the jungle. Water gets into the boots, and your nails get battered; in fact, I lost all 10 toenails.”

“The hardest part is seeing children walking there, parents carrying their children, the elderly. There was a very overweight young man without physical fitness, and he had a heart attack on the first day and died. I remember an elderly woman, about 60 or more, crying because she couldn’t cross the river. There were deep sections of the river with a rope from one end to the other; the water covered her, and she couldn’t get across.”

During the interview, I constantly observe Darmis’s posture. Thanks to my studies on how trauma manifests in the body, I find it impossible not to navigate into his expressions, gestures, posture, and tone of voice. While Darmis was telling me his story, he would cross his arms over his chest and hunch over. Delving into stories like his, marked by trauma, is like exploring sacred ground, where many memories are blocked, and emotions are often not expressed verbally. However, his body was automatically telling its own story throughout the interview. I could feel his anguish, fear, and exhaustion.

The challenges of the Journey

“The first night in my tent while sleeping, a bullet ant bit my finger. That’s what they call it in the Amazon. I felt unbearable pain and didn’t sleep the whole night.” This species of insect is recognised as the most dangerous in the Amazon. According to the Naturalista database, "those who have suffered this bite compare it to being shot with a bullet. That’s why it has this name in popular culture".

Darmis continued his story, “On the second day, we reached the Colombia-Panama border after climbing the hill that took us to the summit. Once you arrive, you begin a long, arduous descent. You keep descending, walking non-stop. The terrain is extremely difficult; the clay-like soil becomes even more treacherous when wet. At times, the mud reaches up to the boot, almost knee-high, and you sink so much that one leg gets stuck, unable to be freed. The boot gets stuck, and moving forward becomes a real challenge because with every step, you get trapped again and again, people cried in desperation.”

He took a sip of water and continued explaining, “You can’t think about it there. If you start analysing everything, you won’t continue, or you’ll weaken. You have to mentally tell yourself, ‘I’m here, and I’m moving forward.’ Try to laugh, try to think about anything else. The Darién is a virgin jungle, one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. It’s breathtaking: the river, the spectacular trees, gigantic rocks, and waterfalls like those on the Discovery Channel.”

The path was marked by blue signs left by the migrants who had travelled it before. In the interview, Darmis informed me that this migration route is heavily polluted because people leave behind tents, clothes, and everything they discard along the way.

When they reached Panama, they encountered military presence, who are there in case of emergencies, and Darmin witnessed them capturing a group that was robbing other migrants. Remember, each migrant carries approximately $500 or more in their pockets.

Breaking Point: Arrival in Panama

After days of walking in the rain, without proper food, and not sleeping, Darmis began to feel his body weakening. He started experiencing symptoms of diarrhoea and vomiting, and he was physically and mentally drained, especially after witnessing all the dangers they were facing. And this was only the first stretch—Colombia, Panama—they hadn’t even reached Costa Rica yet.

Darmis revealed during the interview that he began questioning whether to continue or not, “On the fourth day, I was walking on autopilot. I imagine I was already dehydrated; we had no water, we had absolutely nothing.”

“I remember it was 6:00 pm when we were at the camp, and the river began to rise. The river was already very wide, with a rope running from one side to the other to help cross because even when the river wasn’t high, its force was considerable. With the river rising, the current became even more dangerous. Despite warnings from everyone there, a couple decided to risk it and started trying to cross the river with the rope, and the river swept them away. It was distressing to see how the river carried them off, people were crying. The next day, while walking, we learned they were saved.”

A Breath and a Disheartenment

After five days of walking, they arrived at the UN camp in an indigenous canoe. Darmis told me that along the way, they saw canoes capsizing due to the strength of the river and people not following the rules. There were thousands of desperate migrants at the camp, trying to notify their families that they had arrived. Many of their phones were already damaged due to the conditions they had endured. They were able to buy a SIM card at a Western Union tent there.

First Arrival in Panama, the plan was now to head to Costa Rica. However, at the UN camp, they were informed that the 12 of october U.S Department of Homeland Security had announced that Venezuelans would be sent back to Mexico if they attempted to cross the Southern Border.

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Due to the length of the article and the importance of the declaration from Darmis, I have divided the story into two sections, which you can continue reading next Sunday. I look forward to having you join me then. I invite you to leave your comments and share this reserach article, which tells the story of millions of migrants that cross the Darien Jungle.

Amazonia Arroyo

Naked Woman.