Crossing the water

IN SPANISH there is a saying: el amor todo lo puede. Love will find a way.

It seems that was not the case for Johana Diaz Sanchez, 32, whose relatives must now bury her.

The horrific circumstances surrounding Ms Sanchez’s death yield proof of the plight endured by Venezuelan migrants to this country. Many come seeking a better life, yet find themselves stripped of status and thrown to the wolves.

Ms Sanchez’s decomposing body was recovered on Saturday from a cesspit, about 12 days after she first went missing. Concerned relatives had made several stops at three separate police stations before the body was found at the premises of an abusive male friend.

It was the confession of this man to Homicide Bureau police which precipitated the gruesome discovery.

The details of the case are made more heartbreaking by the fact that Ms Sanchez leaves to mourn a 14-year-old daughter, among others.

According to reports, the abusive man at one stage took to social media and made allegations about Ms Sanchez. Relatives said he also posted photos of her and warned against “Spanish women.”

But it seems the warning should have been the other way around.

Last month, men raped and left for dead an 18-year-old Venezuelan girl after she got into a car in Fyzabad. Months before, 40-year-old Evelyn Rojas was shot and killed at Carapichaima. Three members of a Venezuelan family were murdered, left in a vehicle at the side of the highway. The list goes on.

In Ms Sanchez’s case, the fact that relatives made approaches to several police stations paints a picture of a runaround.

If time is of the essence when it comes to missing people, it is equally the case that police should treat all such reports with seriousness, regardless of the nationality of the people making the report. We hope this is what occurred in this case, but the attitude of law enforcement officials has generally been problematic.

In this regard, undocumented communities face tremendous hurdles because of social, economic and political factors. They are, as a result, particularly vulnerable to insidious forms of exploitation and abuse.

For many, it is all a far cry from dreams of a better life, dreams fuelled by worsening conditions across the Gulf of Paria.

Migrants whose status is subject to the capricious policy shifts of the State are unlikely to seek the protection of the law. In fact, most would prefer to remain hidden no matter the cost.

The irony is while she may have faced discrimination in life, Ms Sanchez’s fate places her on even footing with her Trinidadian female counterparts who have succumbed to violence.

In the end, death, like love, respects no border.