Today marks the end of a bruising local government election campaign, one hallmarked by vigorousβ¦. Earlier this week, theβ¦. Criminals have brazenly carriedβ¦. Venezuelans forced to come to TT as a means of survival are being exploited for sex, cheap labour and for the exchange of guns and contraband goods. Last Friday, a parliamentary committee learned that 2, Venezuelans have sought asylum from their homeland whose economy has been crippled by hyperinflation and political instability.
An estimated arrive by boat weekly. They come here to work for half of what the Trinidadians are making. His view is supported by a Venezuelan who is married to a Trinidadian and works with asylum seekers. The activist did not want to be named. De Castro included some worked for free. Before , the guns were trafficked by a mafia who controlled the supply and demand, but today if a Venezuelan has a gun he sells it for food for his family.
According to police statistics, there is no single country named as where guns are coming from, only that because of poor border control they are smuggled in. Venezuela, being desperate now, has emerged as the main supplier recently.
There is also trade in animals, and sex. However, Trinidadians are profiting from desperate Venezuelans, they said. Some do not mind and some are aware they are coming to do that. Last Friday, police arrested eight Venezuelans at a bar and hotel in central Trinidad. Many women have been arrested there for offences such as being in the country illegally to lewd and suggestive dancing. Although the business has been raided several times over the past five years, it remains operational and continues to house illegal immigrants, predominantly women from Latin American countries.
De Castro, a Trinidadian whose great grandmother was Brazilian, said locals are responsible for the thriving sex trade of Venezuelan women. At least they coming to do a job. They not coming to spoil anybody, they coming to do this to get the money and this is the easiest way. We have to blame our own citizens for prostitution in Trinidad. A Trini man loves a Spanish woman to make love with, so if a woman comes here they want to do prostitution. You cannot blame anyone else but our own citizens.
