The Simón Bolívar international bridge that joins the borders of Venezuela and Colombia has become a kind of synonym for the work of Jesús Soto full of farewell footprints at the Maiquetía airport. The 315 meters of the land route is the easiest solution at the time of emigration for those who are uphill to acquire an air ticket quoted in dollars, at a time when the currencies are governed by a severe exchange control

According to statistics from the Department of Migration Colombia, nearly 60 thousand people cross the migratory crossing daily from San Antonio del Táchira to Cúcuta. But, only less than 10% returns by the same bridge from Colombia to Venezuela

Cúcuta and other coffee cities are not the final destination of the Venezuelan emigrant, at least that is what the statistics reveal. Most of the people who cross the border continue long to other countries in Latin America that will shelter them as their new home, which makes Colombia a springboard or boarding terminal

testimonies of people who have lived it

Maritza Perdomo, a marabina announcer, decided to move to Buenos Aires, with her husband and two children. Pooling his savings with the proceeds of a "garage" sale he made (second-hand clothes, second-hand appliances and other appliances) could barely add enough money to buy four tickets per bus from Cucuta to the Argentine capital, a twelve-way days

"I left for Colombia only for San Antonio del Táchira on January 19, in the morning, without much money, but eager to help my three children and three dogs left in Portuguesa. I spent in Venezuela from the Llanos to Táchira, food and lodging 574,000 bolívares, the million bolivares that I had left I changed it in Cúcuta and they gave me 31,570 pesos. I sold the hard drives and the Playstation console in the city center for 32,000 pesos; with that I bought a ticket to Bucaramanga for 42,000 pesos, haggling with the drivers ".

"When I arrived in Bucaramanga, I only had twenty thousand pesos left so I had to save as much as I could. I left the passenger terminal walking towards the exit of the city. He guided me at all times with the cell phone's GPS, it was night and it was cold. After walking for about an hour, I arrived at a gas station and rested for an hour while I was carrying my cell phone and drinking some water. "

"While walking, I did not feel afraid, but I was very homesick for what I was leaving behind. The desire to get ahead pushed me to continue strongly. "

"On the way, it had already dawned and I had not slept a minute, I got a Venezuelan selling pineapples on the side of the road; I talked to him while he rested for a while longer and he took hold. He told me that he was from San Cristóbal and had moved to Colombia in the last year in search of better opportunities. At the end, he gave me a pineapple and that was breakfast. "

"I tried to look very little at the clock so as not to torment myself with the hours. I would let time run and I would be surprised only by the sun and the moon. He had two backpacks with me; one with most clothes and the other with cookies and other things to eat. "

"After I ate the pineapple I went on my way on foot. There was very little traffic on the road, most of the cars that passed were private and did not queue, so as not to lose more time, I was walking until I got someone to take me to the destination. When I was about eight kilometers away, I got two Venezuelans who were asking at a restaurant to eat, they did not look very good so I continued on my way and although they shouted at me to come closer, I preferred not to do it ".

"You get to Venezuelans all along the way, after the pineapple vendor and the other couple that was asking in the restaurant, I ran into a group of eight Valencians who were taking a bath in the river, at that time I took advantage of it to take a little water, wash my face and continue. "

"After that came the longest journey, I walked about 60 kilometers, always guided by the GPS of the cell phone to see if I walked in the right direction. When I was tired, I felt that my legs did not give me, a truck carrying chicken manure passed by, I ran with all my strength to be able to slash myself. They gave me the tail for another 50 kilometers, but I was in the back of the car with the manure, I got dirty and smelly with excrement. "

"When I got off the truck my legs were shaking, but I kept walking until I came to a curve where there was a police station with a scale to weigh the gandolas and there I went to sleep at 2:00 in the morning. When it was 6:30 in the morning, I grabbed the bags and continued the journey. "

"My feet ached, tiredness was taking over me, but nothing that grabbed another tail, so walking was still the option. I continued in the direction of an Andean town in the department of Santander called San Gil with a lot of cold. "

"Before arriving at the town, I saw that there was a river on the side of the road and it was easily accessible, so I decided to go down and take a bath, but a good bath, because I had not done it for three days. I felt destitute. "

"When I arrived in San Gil, I realized I had left my glasses to see in the river and without them I did not see anything, so I had to return some six kilometers to recover them."

"Then a motorized pass and took me to a town called Oiba that was partying, but I did not want to stay there because the motorized told me that in that town people are very scrubbed when they were partying."

"I resumed my course until I arrived on foot at the only restaurant open on the road, there a waitress very kindly gave me a plate of food and allowed me to carry my cell phone. My feet were full of blisters and I had the idea of bursting them, but it was the remedy worse than the disease. "

"When I left a restaurant I walked for an hour until I came to a truck stop where I slept about five hours until dawn. I became friends with several coffee shops in the area that gave me so much coffee, that I came to think that my caffeine had gone up. "

"My voice seemed like an announcer. I had it sharp and hoarse but it was because of the temperature changes I was exposed to. I never thought about taking a cap and besides the blisters I also took a terrible sunstroke ".

opinion

ACCORDING TO MATURE WHAT YOU SEE IS AN EXODUS OF COLOMBIANS TO VENEZUELA TO RECEIVE MEDICAL TREATMENT .... SIMILAR BURRADA ... NO ONE WHO CREATES HER LIES FOR NOBODY IS A SECRET THAT PEOPLE ARE FLEXIBLE FROM VENEZUELA NOT BECAUSE THEY WANT BUT FOR THE HUNGER SHORTAGE OF FOOD AND DRUGS, IS ALMOST A DEATH SENTENCE TO STAY ... THERE ARE THE LITTLE OF PEOPLE TRANSFORMED THAT LITTLE TO LITTLE HAVE GOT DYED BECAUSE THERE IS NO MEDICATION, AND THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT ANSWER EVERYTHING IS THE BLAME OF THE EMPIRE AND OF ALL LESS THAN THEY AND IF THE COUNTRIES WANT TO SEND MEAL MEDICINES AND MEDICAL SUPPLIES THAT IS INHERENCE BECAUSE THEY THEREFORE VENEZUELA DOES NOT NOCESITE THAT. OR AS DELCY SAID R. VENEZUELA HAS FOOD FOR THREE COUNTRIES ..... I DO NOT KNOW HOW THERE ARE PEOPLE Q EVEN BELIEVE IN THEM