Crisis Of Confidence

As millions flee Venezuela, a widow tells her story of desperation, escape—and hope

- Ana Carina Palacio

THE CRISIS IN VENEZUELA HAS deepened, with millions of people making desperate journeys to escape hyperinflation, hunger, crime, diseases, and death while searching for a better life.

In 2018, Ana Carina Palacio was one of them. After her husband was killed in an accident, she set off, while pregnant, along with her young son. She obtained a transit card and entered Colombia legally, and she has sought help from the International Organization for Migration, which is associated with the United Nations.

Palacio is staying at a temporary assistance center for migrants in Villa del Rosario as she seeks housing, employment and caretakers for her now 6-month-old daughter and 2-year-old son.

This is her story, in her own words (edited for clarity), as told in Spanish to Newsweek’s Jessica Kwong, in an interview over Skype from Colombia.

When I left Venezuela for Colombia, it was the first time I had gone outside my country. I had never even left my state or Maracay [a city in that state, Aragua]. I did not want to leave. I had to.

I worked independently, styling nails and eyebrows, but soon there were no jobs for me to do. No one had work—life became a matter of finding enough food to survive.