Sixteen and hungry, she followed the men who had promised her work and food. Instead, they smuggled her out of Venezuela by sea, secretly planning to force her into a brothel in Trinidad.
Put in a fishing boat, the girl, Yoskeili Zurita, said she sped away with dozens of other women, including her cousin. But the overloaded skiff took on water fast β and capsized with the roll of a sudden swell. Screams pealed across the water. Women cried out the names of children they had left behind. In the darkness, someone prayed. She never saw her cousin again. The boat sank with 38 passengers in late April, most of them women. Only nine people survived, among them Yoskeili and other women who the authorities now say were victims of a human smuggling ring.
The tragedy was shocking even in Venezuela, a nation accustomed to the ravages of a collapsing state , hunger , hyperinflation and rampant crime. For millions, survival means leaving, whatever the risk may be. In the last four years alone, about four million people have abandoned the country, the United Nations estimates. They leave on foot, crossing a treacherous pass in the Andes Mountains. They sell their hair in plazas in border towns, huddle in refugee tents in Brazil and Colombia.
And they head off in leaky boats short on gas or spare parts β and sometimes get lost at sea. The government, crippled by corruption , mismanagement and American sanctions on its oil industry, told relatives the day after the wreck that it lacked even the fuel to mount a rescue.
A state helicopter arrived four days late to join a search that had been left mainly to local fishermen. Then in May, while the country was still coming to terms with the disaster, the tragedy repeated itself: Another smuggling boat sank into the waves with 33 passengers aboard, including at least three minors. Only the captain survived, disappearing before the police could question him. Yoskeili now passes days alone in her room, at times wondering why she survived when so many other women drowned at sea.
