Two Venezuelans rescued, one drowns

UP TO 6 pm yesterday, the body of one woman was recovered after she and 33 other Venezuelans heading to TT in a fishing boat, were thrown into the sea when the boat sank.

Of the 34 on board, 11 have so far been rescued while the search continued for the remaining 22, most of whom were said to be women fleeing an economically collapsed Venezuela. The ten metre long pirogue overturned and sank near Patos Island, near the Dragon’s Mouth on Tuesday night.

A video of the woman’s body partially covered with plastic began circulating yesterday. The grim news comes after two others were pulled from the ocean. According to Venezuelan news outlet Noticiero Digital, up to yesterday evening the 11, some of whom were not listed on the official passenger log, were taken for medical attention.

The captain, Francisco Martinez, and passenger Yusmari Lezama were the first to be rescued.

Two others identified as Angelica Mata and Yubrelín Merchán are among the nine rescued after the initial two.

It was reported that 25 named people and nine unnamed people boarded a pirogue named B/P JHONNALY JOSE at Las Salinas in Güiria. On the voyage the boat experienced engine failure and sank. The ten-metre pirogue was said to be overloaded.

The boat left for TT on Tuesday night, but the sinking was only discovered the following day. The Guardia Nacional and the TT Coast Guard, along with Venezuelan fishermen, are part of the search for the others on board.

In a media release yesterday acting National Security Minister Edmund Dillon said TT will continue to assist Venezuela with the search and rescue operation, under the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), and International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR). He said the the Coast Guard will offer more help if needed.

In a statement to Noticiero Digital, Babar Baloch, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Venezuela, said the incident shows that “if there are no legal routes, there will be more people using more dangerous routes.” Baloch said it “exemplifies the dangers of irregular departures of people trying to move from one country to another.”

This is not the first incident of Venezuelan refugees getting into difficulty at sea. Baloch recalled in January last year another boatload of Venezuelans trying to reach Curacao was shipwrecked with close to 30 on board, and only 16 were rescued.

Baloch said between 40,000 and 60,000 Venezuelans have migrated to TT, a figure that has been discredited by National Security Minister Stuart Young.