強奪、恐喝も…都会のジャングルの方が危険　移民の過酷な旅　米

【イーグルパスＡＦＰ＝時事】ベネズエラ人のビクトル・マヌエル・アテンシオ（３２）さんは、経済が破綻し、政治的混乱が続くニコラス・マドゥロ政権下で将来に絶望し、米国に移住する苦渋の決断を下した。７月３０日、３１人の同胞と共に祖国を出発。２か月かけて約４８００キロの過酷な旅を続けてきた。（写真は有刺鉄線の隙間を探しながら、米テキサス州イーグルパス近くのリオグランデ川沿いを歩く移民）
　米メキシコ国境のリオグランデ川を渡り、テキサス州イーグルパスで初めて米国の地を踏んだアテンシオさんは、「終わりがないように思えて、疲労困憊（こんぱい）した」と声を震わせた。
　コロンビアとパナマ間のジャングルでの危険な移動を振り返り、「一番大変なのはジャングルだろうと思っていた」「でも、都会のジャングルの方がずっと危険だった」と話した。
　「動物より人間の方がひどいことをする」
　ジャングルを進む移民は、自然の脅威だけではなく、凶悪な犯罪組織から襲撃される恐れもある。
　アテンシオさんは、わずかな身の回り品しか持ってこなかったが、徐々に持ち持ち物を手放して行って、最終的には身分証明書とイヤホン付き携帯電話という必要最低限のものだけになった。
　ニカラグアとグアテマラを通過した際は、何度か金銭を奪い取られた。賄賂を払う必要に迫られるか、恐喝され、３０００ドル（約４５万円）を失ったという。
　それでも、道中は悲惨なことばかりではなかった。「食べ物や服をくれる人もいて、そのおかげで生き延びることができた」と、ようやく笑顔を見せた。
　米国の地を踏んだアテンシオさんは、旅の仲間を抱き締めてこう言った。「ついにやった」
　これからダラスにいるいとこたちに合流する予定だという。目標は、今もベネズエラにいる家族に「希望」を与えるために生活を立て直すことだと語った。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/10/13-17:18）

At 32, Venezuelan Victor Manuel Atencio had finally had it: The crisis roiling his country, he felt, had ruined all his hopes for the future.
So he made the difficult decision to emigrate to the United States -- a grueling odyssey that ended up taking two months and covering some 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) marked both by calamity and kindness.
It seemed endless, very exhausting, he told AFP, choking with emotion, after finally crossing from Mexico to the Texas border town of Eagle Pass, where he first set foot on American soil.
I had thought that the hardest part would be the jungle, said Atencio, referring to the dangerous and debilitating hike through the Darien jungle between Colombia and Panama.
But then I realized that the urban jungle was far worse, with attacks and robberies commonplace along the way.
Animals behave better than men, he added.
Now, however, after fording the Rio Grande, with its capricious currents, he was in the United States.
Atencio began his journey on July 30, along with 31 countrymen from western Venezuela. Like him, they had become fed up with the government of Nicolas Maduro, whose rule has been marked by political turmoil and economic collapse.
During the exhausting trek through the Darien jungle, where a stream of migrants face both natural dangers and attacks by vicious criminal gangs, Atencio had gradually cast aside the few belongings he started the trip with, keeping only the barest of necessities: his identity papers and a cellphone with earbuds.
It's sad seeing the shape some people are in on this trail, he said, describing the brutal conditions migrants face.
Things were particularly tense for him when he passed through Nicaragua and Guatemala, where he said he was repeatedly robbed.
Between bribes and extortion, Atencio said he lost $3,000.
But the journey was not entirely grim.
Some people gave us food or clothes, and that's how we were able to survive, he said, flashing a rare smile.
Once he was finally standing on American soil, Atencio embraced a travel companion.
We made it, he said.
Atencio's aim is to join cousins in Dallas -- and to forge a life that will provide hope to family members still in Venezuela.