Cuban fugitive survived in the world’s most dangerous jungle

The “Darien socket “. This is what the fugitives, traffickers and survivors call the 575,000 hectares of dense El Darien National Park, in Panama, where 900 species of birds, 2,163 plant species, 160 species of mammals and 50 amphibians grow.

This jungle centroamericana a Colombia Yes Panama in the same compact, impenetrable and deadly green band.

This natural wall is for many the most dangerous jungle in the world.

The patrol of the National Border Service of Panama (Senafront), from its military base in Metetí, awaits all the illegals who have managed to reach the end of this thick black hole that started in Turbo, the Colombian city where the wild nature cuts the Pan-American Highway, which continues its route 97 kilometers later, across the Darien socket, in the town of Yaviza, already Panama.

Exhausted by famine, effort and countless danger, many of those who manage to survive the journey through the Darien plug they get caught, exhausted.

The Panamanian authorities transfer them to the Temporary Humanitarian Aid Station (ETAH), which will then take its time to resolve What to do with them.

Fugitives from the world

All the runaways who choose the You’re welcome to save their skin, they come from places as dissimilar and far away as Haiti, Cuba, Somalia, Bangladesh, India, Saudi Arabia, Colombia and Venezuela.

In most cases, your greatest desire is to achieve Mexico United States Where Canada.

María, a 51-year-old Cuban who managed to survive the dangers of Darien plug, arrived by canoe at the town of Bajo Chiquito, in Panama. There, she was assisted by Médecins sans frontières, the humanitarian aid agency which this year inaugurated a migration reception post (ERM) in this town in the region of Emberá-Wounaan, to ensure health. physical and mental of the thousands of migrants who arrive there. . , spat through the jungle, exhausted and terrified as if they had escaped from hell itself.

According to the humanitarian agency, this year, between January and May, 14,000 migrants they ventured across the Darien Gap.

Marie delivered to Doctors Without Borders a handwritten letter, with pictures and misspellings so they can tell the world about the nightmare they experienced.

Doctors Without Borders published their letter on their website. And say:

“Hello, today is June 4, 2021. The one who writes is a 51 year old Cuban of age. I am one of the survivors and the stupid ones who crossed the Darien jungle (Colombia-Panama). Everything I write here is real, lived and seen with my own eyes.

“I walked in the jungle for 5 nights and 6 days. On the first day we climbed a hill with a height and a straight and wet slope, it is called the Loma del Desafío, they tell you that when you pass it you have already accomplished everything (lying). After this hill comes the worst, the roads and paths come until you reach the hill of death. The Hill of Death He passes, the one who can, in a day and that is the Loma de la Muerte, because it has a horrible slope and you walk on paths where there is nothing on its sides, you cannot look down because you risk to fall and lose your life.

“Later there are more roads and more hills, more roads and more hills and of course with rivers and people always wet. You sleep wet every night. Whatever you wear, you throw it on the road because the weight won’t let you walk. The strongest, most agile people leave you behind. When you reach a certain section like halfway to get to the camp (from Bajo Chiquito already in Panama) you see dead, rotten and swollen. In my case, I saw three separately. It’s real. Everything is real.

“You see the dead, in a state of putrefaction and swollen. In my case, I saw three“

“Two or three days to get to the camp 7 or 8 young people they attack you; they are armedThey take your food, your cellphones, your money and pretty women with pretty bodies they rape them. But the worst is not over yet.

“You meet people who have been walking in the jungle for 27, 15 and 10 days, because they have leg problems and they have nothing left. You meet women and children and men with children of all ages.

“In my case I had to save a girl of about 6 months and good for health. His father was detached and luckily I was behind and in the lower part of the hill and was able to grab him by the right foot but just with his head already to hit a stone. The girl was saved, thank goodness.

“In this jungle, I was left alone to walk and sleep. My feet got sick (peeled, I lost my skin or rather my skin). After all of this, I continued to walk but I’m missing a story. One of the nights, Haitians had their tents near the river and it was already dawn. For a few seconds they did not die because the day was beautiful and sunny and the river rose in two seconds and without warning (the river took on a cloudy color).

“I arrived at the camp (Bajo Chiquito) on June 3 and went directly to see the Doctors Without Borders, because I arrived unable to walk, with bare feet and swelling. I have been with them twice and they do an admirable job.

“This is why I wrote this, but I also do it by urging humanity not to take this path. It’s a dangerous road inhuman. It is a route in which only god save you, but it is not a road from God. It’s a route where families have to go their separate ways, even if you don’t understand it. It is the fight for survival. The more days in the jungle, the more likely you are to die, to be killed or bitten by a beast, a viper. They say that there are so many people who have been there that it is already a road. No, it’s the opposite, it’s a worn path with the risk of slipping and dying. There are people with broken bones who cannot get there (continue on the road, they are abandoned).

“I encourage people who have walked this road to tell the truth. There are many better ways than this to get to the United States. There is no reason to despair and make a good decision.

“It’s a story you will never want to remember. Take care of your life and love her always, do not expose her, so that God too can take care of you ”.