On the way to the United States, Mexico or Chile; In recent years, there have been several cases of Colombians who perished traveling to countries to which they were going in search of a better future.
Colombia News.
«American dream», «a better life» or «let’s go for the family future»; These are some of the phrases with which Colombians go to other countries in search of a better life, however, on many occasions these stories do not end with happy endings but with tragedy. Just as it happened with Claudia Marcela Pineda, Maria Camila and Juan Esteban Montoya, nationals who lost their lives while seeking to reach the United States.
They are two different stories of Colombian illegal migration.
They departed from their homes in Colombia with transit or intermediate destinations, the final plan was to reach North America.
They touched its lands, felt its waters; but their tragic stories marked their families.
Claudia and her daughter died in the Arizona desert
In August of last year Claudia Marcela Pineda, 37, decided to go live with her children María José and Cristián, 10 and 3 years old, to the United States, the Colombian would meet her partner, but there was no reunion.
The family’s goal was to achieve a better future, the Arizona desert did not give them a chance to get out alive after being abandoned by the coyote that was crossing them.
Claudia undertook the trip to look for a better future for her children, her husband already settled and organized in the United States, was waiting for her.
María José did not survive, her brother whom she cared for throughout the complex trip, was hospitalized and was later reunited with her father.
In order to enter the United States, he traveled to Mexico.
From there the plan was to cross the Arizona Desert, with hellish heat and hundreds of kilometers with nothing around.
A territory that has claimed several lives of migrants, many children have perished alone, together with their parents and other relatives. But the fact that little Cristián was left alive was a true miracle..
Despite the fact that the father of her son, Victor Hugo Morales, years before had managed to reach the United States by the same route, Claudia and María José did not resist that trip and died.
Their bodies were found in Yuma County, in the area of Levee Road and County in Arizona.
Cristián survived, was rescued by US authorities, hospitalized and later reunited with his father.
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Claudia managed to ask for help
At the time, Telemundo brought to light a distressing audio that corresponds to Claudia’s call to 911.
Said communication reflects the desperate request for help that the woman made to the authorities to rescue her and her children after being abandoned by the person who was helping them cross the border. The coyote’.
– Marcela Pineda: “Please help me”.
– 911 Agent: “How many people are coming with you?”
– Marcela Pineda: “Two children, please help me, I’m going to pass out.”
They were fragments of the communication that the Colombian maintained with the person who answered the emergency telephone line.
In the background you can hear a heartbreaking cry from the girl María José who told her mother between tears that she was hungry.
“Mommy I’m hungry!”, the girl shouted, to which Marcela says: “Now my love.”
Immediately, the 911 agent asked if he had WhatsApp. Later, he asked her to review the application because he had sent her a message, “to agree to share the coordinates.”
Unfortunately, the help team could not arrive in time, since when the cell phone was turned off, the trail of the woman and her children was lost. He had very little charge on his cell phone.
Juan sole survivor and Maria among the victims of the shipwreck
The tragic news of the shipwreck of a boat in the United States had gone unnoticed until it became known that two of its passengers were Colombians.
Both were identified as Juan Esteban and Maria Camila, two young people from Valle del Cauca who got on the boat that sank last Saturday, January 22, at night.
According to the Coast Guard, approximately 45 miles -72 kilometers- east of Fort Pierce Inlet, in Florida.
A total of 38 people were in it, of which 38 died and only Juan survived. They came from the Bahamas.
He clung to part of the boat and was rescued by another commercial boat.
“Mom, my sister died”
Both María Camila and Juan Esteban are the children of Marcia and Edwin M., she lives in the United States and he works at the Aguas de Buga SAESP company.
His mother confirmed that after the rescue he was transferred to a medical center in Florida, where is out of danger, but in the hands of the North American authorities.
She explained that the moment in which Juan confirmed the death of her other daughter was quite painful, something that has broken her heart in two: «Mom, my sister died», He managed to manifest from the hospital.
Last night in Guacarí everything revolved around the two of them, there were prayers, wake and a crowded religious celebration.
The community came together to ask for the prompt appearance of the body of the young woman, the return of Juan, the reunion of the family and to be able to give their loved one a Christian burial.
