A search was under way on Sunday for a boat departing from Venezuela for Trinidad and Tobago with at least nine people on board, a source close to the rescue service told AFP.
Several boats make illegal trips from one country to another, about a hundred kilometers away, transporting mostly illegal immigrants seeking work in Trinidad and Tobago due to the economic crisis in Venezuela, which is exacerbated by sanctions – mostly US – with the ultimate goal of ousting of socialist president Nicolas Maduro from power. Some go there to buy products and food at cheaper prices.
The missing boat set sail on Friday and was expected to arrive in Guiria (northeast) on Saturday, according to a source in the French Agency. A relative of one of the passengers notified the authorities the same day and investigations began yesterday.
There was nothing new last night.
According to a resident of Gueria, the boat was carrying a family who had gone shopping in Trinidad and Tobago ahead of Christmas and were returning with “food and toys”.
Since 2018, more than 100 people have lost their lives in shipwrecks in this area. In December 2020, about thirty people died when a departing boat carrying illegal immigrants from Guyria sank.
It is not uncommon for boats to be overloaded and there are many accidents.
According to UN data, some 5 million Venezuelans (out of a total population of 30 million) have fled the country since 2015. Some 25,000 have chosen Trinidad and Tobago, an archipelago of 1.3 million people, as their destination. where authorities say they have recorded the arrival of 16,000 Venezuelan citizens.
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