‘Children were dying. We didn’t even have aspirin’: the Indigenous Venezuelans forced far from home

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Economic crisis has driven Warao communities from their traditional life in lush forest to a Brazilian slum

t 4pm, the sound of sirens is fading. On the pavement, a teenage girl – her eyes darting back and forth to monitor police presence – starts smoking crack. She is across the street from “Hotel 583”, a makeshift shelter in a dangerous part of downtown

Since the early 2010s, Venezuela has experienced economic, social and humanitarian turmoil, causing many residents to leave for neighbouring countries.and southern Guyana, where they once lived a traditional lifestyle, the Warao – whose name means “boat people” – now survive on one meal a day. Often, it’s a meagre portion of fish and rice. “For the rest of the day, the children’s stomachs are soothed with sugar water,” says a distraught mother.

When Venezuelan migration began, the Brazilian government built shelters and adopted legislative measures to promote the integration of Indigenous communities. The constitutional protection reserved for Indigenous Brazilians now apply to Indigenous people from all countries. The Waraos are, therefore, legal refugees in Brazil.

“At first, institutions and associations came to help us, such as ACNUR , but then our situation ceased to be considered an emergency,” says García. This community’s dream is to obtain land to farm in Brazil. Warao communities dot the Amazonas region. About 800 Indigenous Venezuelans live in Manaus, mostly in the Cidade de Deus slum. Daisy Pérez, 42, has never seen such miserable conditions and has been going door to door for help with no luck.

 

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