‘My children almost died in a shooting in Ecuador, so I took them out of school and we returned to Venezuela’: the story of a foreign family who left out of fear

This is the story of Jhoanderson Medina, a 29-year-old Venezuelan who left his country in 2018, migrated to Ecuador, but decided to return to Venezuela after five years. Neither in his country, nor in the country he chose to live in with his family, was he able to overcome the poverty and insecurity that result from regimes that fail to solve economic and political crises.

Jhoanderson was a fisherman from the town of Punto Fijo, on the northwest coast of Venezuela, when he left by bus in April 2018 for Ecuador, where his mother-in-law had already emigrated.

This was followed by his wife, Eurimar, and their daughter, Eliannys, who attended initial education in Ecuador since she was eight months old and later began primary education. Now he is 6 years old.

In Guayaquil they had Jhoandry (currently 4 years old), who was also enrolled in the fiscal education system in early education, but the two minors did not study in Ecuador since the 2022/2023 school year.

Both are part of the 37,649 Venezuelans who stopped registering in Ecuador’s education system between 2021 and 2023.

The number of The number of registered Venezuelans increased from 60,146 in the 2021/2022 school year to 22,497 in the 2023/2024 perioda reduction of 62.6%, that is to say three times less, according to the latest figures from the Ministry of Education.

Jhoanderson left his native country during the socialist regime initiated by the late Hugo Chávez in February 1999 and which continues to this day with Nicolás Maduro. “There was a shortage and what was earned was not enough, that’s why I left”.

Upon arriving in Ecuador, he worked in masonry and as a painter in the construction industry, but his income was irregular. One month he had to survive and the next month he was struggling. “The only thing is, you could buy anything without waiting in line for days, but what you earned almost all went to rent until things got worse with crime.”.

The family settled in Los Vergeles, a sector that began as an invasion of northeastern Guayaquil, where they paid up to a hundred dollars in rent.

What happened on March 7, 2023 around 8 p.m. was the reason for the departure from Ecuador. Jhoanderson was with his wife at a social gathering outside a neighbor's home when a shooting occurred. “What I did was throw myself at my two children who were with me.", account.

But a stray bullet took the life of one of his friends who was with him that night. “Then we decided to return to Venezuela, it became difficult”, he indicates.

Daniel Regalado, leader of the Venezuelans, acknowledges that there has been a decrease in the enrollment of foreigners in the case of Venezuelans in educational institutions. “Many have made the decision to look for a third country or return to Venezuela and thus plan a new migration with different expectations, as Ecuador has not been able to realize its plans for permanent residence.”

The decline in the number of foreign children has continued to increase in the past two years, he added.

Jhoanderson and Eurimar left Ecuador in September 2023 with their two children. The minors are no longer studying because they were registered until 2021.

“We always had the problem of being placed in remote schools, but even the youngest man managed to get into initial education, as they call it.”

Now they are in Punto Fijo. Although there is no longer a shortage, the problem of underemployment remains. What he earns is not enough, so Jhoanderson plans to migrate againthis time to Medellín, Colombia.

His family is still on the road. Neither the Venezuelan nor the Ecuadorian regime has been able to guarantee a minimum in those countries that generates peace and prosperity in the most vulnerable population group susceptible to migration.

“There is no social inclusion as there should be in the country, there are shortcomings in regularization, xenophobia and poor public administration against foreigners, all of which contribute to Venezuelans leaving Ecuador,” Regalado said.

Because they plan to return, there are some who no longer register for the school year and plan to return to Venezuela.

The problem in the country with the largest reserves of crude oil stems from the lack of purchasing power of households. “Now there are all kinds of things in Venezuela, the problem is that the economic part is not stable because the prices are exorbitant. A chicken that costs six dollars here in Ecuador can cost up to thirty dollars there. “Hyperinflation is exaggerated and salaries are minimal.”

Why are Venezuelans leaving Ecuador?

Jhoanderson confirms that he already misses the family members he left behind in his country more than five years ago. And another reason is that he couldn't find a permanent job in Ecuador. He only worked sporadically and most of what he earned almost went to rent.

The latest figures from the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC) show that only 35.8% of people who are employed are in the appropriate employment category, that is, they earn more than or equal to the minimum wage that is set at $460 for this 2024.

The remaining 64.2% of the economically active population is underemployed, in the category of underemployment, meaning they earn less than the basic salary, or they do not have a job and are looking for one (unemployment).

A third reason, Regalado says, is that they return to their native country to process documents such as ID cards and passports. “When they are in Venezuela, they can do it at the exchange rate of the currency that circulates there. So they do it in a relaxed way, without having to think about paying the rent because they live with their family.”

These Venezuelans leave Ecuador with their sights set on Spain and even the United States, a country they try to enter through the jungles of Darién, the Venezuela-Colombia border, and on through Central America until they reach Mexico.

One of them is Jhoanderson, who has relatives who managed to complete this journey. “I know there are dangers, but nothing is being done here, you have to try,” he says. (JO)