Photo: MARVIN RECINOS / AFP / Getty Images
A migrant of Venezuelan nationality, who was a police officer in her country, died of a heart attack in southern Nicaragua while en route to the United States.His relatives said this Wednesday, who are requesting help to repatriate the body.
The migrant in an irregular condition, identified as Kimberly Shirley Chacín Sánchez, 30, died last week of a sudden heart attack after crossing from Costa Rica to Nicaragua sailing aboard a boat along the San Juan River on the border.
Chacín was a former police official in the state of Táchira, in Venezuela.and together with a friend, Dámaris Rivera, she undertook the journey to the United States, but her heart could not bear it when she was sailing down the river, according to her relatives.
The former agent She was transferred to a health center in the municipality of San Carlos, the main city in the Río San Juan department of Nicaragua, where she died.
The woman’s body was later transferred to Managua, where it was found this Wednesday, and from there they hope to repatriate it by air to Venezuela.
The family has launched a fundraising campaign to repatriate the body, as well as for the return to Venezuela of their friend Dámaris Rivera.
Nicaragua, like the rest of the Central American countries, is territory of passage of thousands of foreigners from South America, the Caribbean, Asia and Africa who try to reach the US irregularly.
One of the routes through which migrants enter Nicaragua is through the municipalities of El Castillo and San Carlos, which belong to the Río San Juan department of Nicaragua, bordering Costa Rica.
In recent months, the number of Venezuelan, Colombian, Cuban, Ecuadorian and Haitian migrants arriving in Nicaragua has increased.
Venezuelan died in Honduras
The death of the former police officer was announced only a few days after another Venezuelan migrant died, also of a heart attack, in San Pedro Sula, northern Honduras.
The migrant, whose name has not been provided, died at the Mario Catarino Rivas Hospitalto which he was taken in the early hours of Sunday, September 17 to receive assistance, where he later died, according to unofficial versions.
He The migrant was traveling with his wife, two children and another member of his family, with the intention of reaching the United States.
Like Nicaragua, Honduras is a transit territory for thousands of foreigners. There are days when the number of migrants arriving in the municipality of Danlí, El Paraíso, exceeds 5,000, according to official Honduran sources.
In recent months, the number of Venezuelan, Colombian, Cuban and Ecuadorian migrants arriving in Honduras has increased.
Expansion of TPS for Venezuelans
On Wednesday, it was announced that the US government will offer protection from deportation and give access to work permits to nearly half a million Venezuelans who are currently in the country illegally.
Sources from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the expansion of the already existing Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program to Venezuelans who have resided in the country uninterruptedly since before July 31, 2023.
Venezuelans will be able to enjoy TPS for a period of 18 months.
The DHS justified this measure, which could benefit 472,000 people, “due to the extraordinary and temporary conditions in Venezuela that prevent people from returning safely.”
Previously, the program only benefited Venezuelans who had arrived in the country before March 2021, and who number around 242,700 people.
With information from EFE
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