NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 Ysamar L贸pez stood beneath the old hotel's canopy, exploring New York City's unfamiliar streets on Google Maps and making a plan to set out into the rain.
The Venezuelan woman arrived late the prior evening after a two-day bus ride from Texas capping weeks of overland travel. She had no idea her country鈥檚 foreign minister was about to speak at the United Nations a few blocks away. She had installed herself and her two small children in a room inside, got them fed and had a medical check, and now she was focused on finding warm clothing.
鈥淭hank God, nothing bad has happened, but I鈥檓 waiting for a solution to see if they leave me here or send me somewhere else,鈥 said L贸pez, 33, as her 3-year old son with big green eyes and a runny nose clung to her. 鈥淏ut we鈥檙e OK, we鈥檙e doing OK.鈥
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yv谩n Gil鈥檚 speech Saturday comes only days after a U.N.-backed panel investigating human rights violations in Venezuela reported that the South American country鈥檚 government has intensified efforts to limit democratic freedoms with threats, surveillance and harassment. In his speech, Gil didn鈥檛 deny the existence of widespread hardship in his country but attributed it to U.S.-imposed sanctions.
The Roosevelt Hotel, a once stately hotel occupying an entire midtown block a stone鈥檚 throw from Grand Central Station, is now a center for asylum-seekers and a symbol of the city's struggle to absorb a crush of migrants 鈥 most of whom hail from Venezuela. Venezuelans have arrived over the past year.
As they , city officials have scrambled to , turning to , school gyms and parks to comply with a state law requiring housing for the homeless. There has been increasingly dire rhetoric from Mayor Eric Adams, who warned this month that the migrant crisis would
A complex crisis that began during the last decade has pushed millions of Venezuelans into poverty and at least 7.3 million to migrate. These days, the minimum wage paid in bolivars is the equivalent of $3.80 per month, down from $30 in April 2022, when it was last raised.
Millions of teachers, professors and public employees earn the minimum wage plus bonuses, often turning to side hustles or remittances from relatives abroad to make ends meet. Others, such as older retirees, depend entirely on their pensions, which are equal to the minimum wage, and the occasional bonus.
Gil said in his speech that extensive media coverage of his country's day-to-day struggles is often disinformation aimed at triggering 鈥渁 humanitarian intervention in our country, in flagrant violation of our sovereignty.鈥
鈥淲e are facing a new generation of unilateral coercive measures that are more cruel and destructive, affecting access to vaccines, food and other essential goods and services, which makes these atrocities true crimes against humanity,鈥 he said.
In its latest report, the three-member international fact-finding mission authorized by the U.N. Human Rights Council said the government is increasingly repressing specific members of civil society, including politicians, labor leaders, journalists, human rights defenders and other real or perceived opponents. The targets have been subjected to detention, surveillance, threats, defamatory campaigns and arbitrary criminal proceedings.
The most infamous institution for political prisoners is in the capital Caracas. It resembles an urban version of a terraced rice paddy, with its various paved levels ascending to an Epcot-esque dome.
On Tuesday, activists in New York鈥檚 Times Square gave passers-by the opportunity to venture behind the fearsome walls of the Helicoide 鈥 more specifically a re-creation based on former detainees' experiences. Users donned virtual reality headsets for a five-minute immersive experience of the Helicoide's conditions; protesters wore black shirts reading 鈥淐LOSE THE TORTURE CENTERS.鈥
International human rights organizations have also criticized the United Nations, Nicol谩s Maduro鈥檚 government and the opposition for delays in establishing a much-hyped, roughly $3 billion fund to finance health, food and education programs for Venezuela鈥檚 poor. Venezuelan assets frozen because of the economic sanctions were to be funneled to the fund, which the U.N. will manage, but it is yet to materialize.
Human Rights Watch last month blamed the lack of progress on Maduro government for not identifying the country鈥檚 frozen assets abroad; foreign governments and banks for not quickly releasing identifying assets; and the U.N. for not opening the fund itself. The human rights organization said the U.S. government took six months to agree it would shield the humanitarian fund from creditors looking for Venezuelan money to cover debts.
鈥淭he Maduro government, the opposition, the United Nations, and the Biden administration need to act swiftly and transparently to ensure aid for Venezuelans,鈥 Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement last month. 鈥淭he millions of Venezuelans with dire humanitarian needs have no time to lose.鈥
Their struggles at home drive them to seek refuge elsewhere. An early challenge in their exodus is the perilous Darien Gap, which connects South America to Central America. Earlier this year, two U.N. groups said the number of migrants crossing through the jungle area between Colombia and Panama could this year.
Many of those who make it through later find themselves at an altogether different locale: The Roosevelt. On Wednesday, Adams told local television channel NY1 that there was still time for President Joe Biden, in town for the U.N. General Assembly, to visit The Roosevelt, as a delegation of congressional representatives had done days earlier.
The president returned to Washington without going to The Roosevelt. But on Thursday, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayork announced temporary legal status for an estimated 472,000 Venezuelans who had arrived in the country as of July 31, making it easier for them to get authorization to work in the U.S. That has been a key demand of Democratic mayors and governors who are struggling to care for an increased number of migrants in their care.
At The Roosevelt on Thursday, one Venezuelan couple with a baby was on their way out, having been instructed to head a shelter in lower Manhattan. They donned layers of clothing, shouldered their laden bags and the father draped his leather jacket over the baby in the stroller. The blowing wind sent rain sneaking sideways under umbrellas on the street, but the couple didn鈥檛 have one for protection anyway.
Lopez, the mother who had just arrived, was looking on her phone for a store that asylum workers had recommended; it would have cheap coats for her children. But she first wanted to see if a church might have donated clothing. St. Patrick鈥檚 Cathedral was just a few blocks away and she would try there.
鈥淚t has been almost two months that I鈥檝e been going through all this,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 easy, but we did it.鈥
Across the street from the St. Patrick鈥檚 Cathedral is Venezuela鈥檚 one-time consulate, now closed 鈥 the between U.S.-backed Juan Guaid贸, who declared himself Venezuela鈥檚 leader in 2019 following Maduro鈥檚 widely considered sham reelection the previous year.
The consulate鈥檚 flag is still on the pole outside but, left unattended, it has twisted itself up with its pole. One of the fa莽ade鈥檚 glass panels is gone, replaced by plywood. Signs displayed on remaining panels call attention to the misery in Venezuela, noting that millions have been forced to leave.
鈥淭he crisis in Venezuela is worse than ever,鈥 they read. 鈥淜eep your eyes on Venezuela.鈥
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Garcia Cano reported from Mexico City.
