Andes Route

"You can't be in Venezuela, maybe if you are a politician, part of the military, or a merchant and you raise your prices, but the working class Venezuelan can no longer be there, because with a minimum wage absolutely nothing can be done."

"I came with a guy that had 2 daughters; a new born and a 2 year old. We met on the bus, he had arepas, I had some soda, and we shared, we helped eachother. He had a lot of suitcases and kids so I helped him to cross the border. Then I asked him, how are you going to Peru? and he replied, I don't know, by foot."

"The majority go to Ecuador, Peru, Chile. Destinations like Rumichaca, Ibarra, Quito, Guayaquil, Tumbes,the border of Peru, Piura, Chiclayo, Arequipa, Tacna. A lot of Venezuelans go to Peru, especially to Lima."

"A lot of people die crossing the Berlin Peak, extreme cold makes their body stiff. The hope is to get a ride to cross this part, and then keep on walking..."

"I put my friend's little boy on my shoulders and started jogging, so he could move a bit, because it's more dangerous for children than for us, we can resist more. Then we took our jackets off and gave them to the little boy because his lips were turning purple..."

"If you are not well protected or you are wet, you can die from hypothermia, that's the problem. This is a critical zone, it's a matter of survival, that's why there's so many groups helping along the route. Twenty thousand walkers are assisted by the Humanitarian Network on this route. Twenty-thousand each month! That's a lot of people."

"They asked us: where are you going? and we would say to Pasto! and Colombians would say to Pasto? thats so fucking far away! Venecos, you still have a long way to go! and they would start laughing! - I know. - But really, where are you going? - To Perú! - To Perú??? Oh you are crazy! so crazy! Stay here in Colombia, there's work here!"

"Without the humanitarian visa you could no longer enter. That visa involves paperwork and costs US$50, you also need a passport. For the average Venezuelan family, it's almost impossible to get a passport, the minimum wage is US$3, imagine getting 50..."

"My son has Duchenne's muscular dystrophy. I arrived at the border yesterday   and I was rejected. It's very painful, I'm a refugee in Peru, I left to go get my son since in Peru they are helping me with the medicines and therapies he needs. His disease has no cure, and even knowing this, they didn't let me go through."

"Venezuelans have migrated to Latin America, and we know Latin American countries are underdeveloped, just like Venezuela. Governments have agreed to prevent them from entering because they are harming Ecuadorian, Peruvian, Chilean and Argentinian workers, since they are willing to work for less."

"We were 2 or 3 hours at the border, in Rumichaca. Since we couldn't get in we got in a van that took us through a trail. It cost $15 per person. We were a group of 10, and the driver was looking out for the police. if they caught us we would lose all of our money. They left us in a small town, and from there we got in a bus to Quito

"

"People here haven't received Venezuelans well. They say kids from other countries come in and then our children are left without education. This hurts because Ecuador is also a country of immigrants. I would be so hurt if I left my country and they judge me like a thug. Why? because I'm poor? Because I'm in need?"

"My name is Jesus Adrian Superlano, they call me Sore. I'm from Venezuela, from Barquisimeto, but I'm also from Barinas. Well, I'm from everywhere, when you're migrating you are from everywhere, it's not like you are from a particular place, you are a little of everything."

I would ask if it's possible to work, if they needed help, and they would say yes or no, that simple. To work in schools or clinics, that's more complicated, they ask for papers or just say no because you are Venezuelan, that they are looking for Peruvians."

"He got sick in my store, he had walked so much and then got sick in Peru. I gave him medicine, food, I treated him like a son. It's so unfair, what they are going through is such a painful truth."

"We have learned to cook "aji de gallina," "papa a la huancaina," so many delicious Peruvian dishes. It's very probable that an interesting culinary mixture will come from all of this. In some ways society will evolve as Peruvians and Venezuelans mix and another generation is born."