A Venezuelan migrant who traveled to more than five countries in the region in search of a better quality of life died Monday afternoon in the northern border of Chile, thus becoming the second fatality in this inhospitable areaauthorities reported on Tuesday.
Is about Edward Zapata47 years old, who was found in the sector of Pisiga Carp, in the commune Colchanean Andean area more than 3,600 meters above sea level with extreme temperatures, explained the Carabineros police force.
Neither the pandemic nor the social crisis that lasted for more than a year in 2019 have removed the desire to migrate to Chile, one of the most attractive countries within Latin America for its political and economic stability.
After a spike in arrivals in February last year, the crisis worsened in October, with hundreds of foreigners wandering through different locations in the north of the country, forcing the Chilean government to announce the construction of several shelters to deal with the crisis.
the mayor of Colchane, Javier Garciadenounced on Monday that the shelters are collapsed and that the migrants are not prepared to face the very low night temperatures that affect this area on these dates.
“The Chilean government has mocked Chileans on migration issues”added the mayor.
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) alerted last December that nearly 500 Venezuelan refugees and migrants, including children, cross daily through irregular border crossings between bolivia Y chili and arrive in the country “after several days without eating, with dehydration, hypothermia and altitude sickness”.
The victim reported this Tuesday is the second so far this year, after the death on January 14 of a Peruvian citizen, and at least number 23 since the massive flow began in February 2021.
In Chile there is 1.4 million migrantswhich is equivalent to more than 7% of the populationand Venezuelans are the most numerous, followed by Peruvians, Haitians and Colombians.
