Ecuador, with some 17.4 million inhabitants, registers more than 10,000 confirmed cases and more than 500 deaths from coronavirus.
Venezuelan immigrants in Ecuador are undertaking dangerous journeys to return to their land or to reunite with relatives in other Latin American countries, since confinement measures to confront the coronavirus in the region have left them without work or housing.
Many of the foreigners left their country due to the economic crisis, working in informal jobs, such as street and park vendors. Government measures and business closings in the region have eliminated its meager sources of income.
«We were in Guayaquil, we have worked and we returned to Peru to see if we are doing better,» said José Román, 19, while trying to stop a vehicle on the road with his cousin Jeison Rodríguez to hasten his trip.
«Here we can no longer work and we have nowhere to live,» said Román, who was a car wash operator and was aiming to reach Peru in the coming weeks.
Rodríguez, 20 years old and who worked in construction, commented that «we plan to leave with money from Guayaquil to be able to help the family in Caracas, but we couldn’t do anything, just thank God because we are leaving alive and healthy. ».
Some Venezuelans have died in Ecuador from COVID-19, said Daniel Regalado of the Venezuelan Civil Association in Ecuador, while others have been evicted from their homes.
«Famine is what Venezuelans are going through in Ecuador and it is very regrettable,» said Regalado. «Since last week people have been arriving from Guayaquil walking to Quito to return to Venezuela,» he explained.
In Guayaquil, which registers more than 5,300 cases, there are groups of Venezuelans, some with children, who get together to undertake the trip, carrying their suitcases and belongings in search of transportation under the harsh mobility restrictions imposed in the Andean country.
Venezuelans hoping to find better opportunities in other Latin American countries will face land borders that were closed in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus. (C.D.A.)
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