An 83-year-old migrant of Venezuelan nationality died this Tuesday (17) in northern Chile after crossing the border from Bolivia near the town of Colchane. The Health Service of this small border town reported the death and explained that the body was found in the Salar de Coipasa sector, at an altitude of 3,600 kilometers in the middle of the desert.
The immigrant was identified as Humberto José Ávila Ávila, a native of Maracaibo, Venezuela, and suffered from hypertension, according to his sister, who was traveling with him.
“This death hurts because it is an old man who decides to undertake an impossible crossing”, lamented the mayor of Colchane, Javier García. “His death reminds us that immigration has not stopped,” he added.
Plateau passes are the main irregular entry route to Chile, which remains one of the most attractive countries in Latin America due to its political and economic stability despite the pandemic and social crisis of 2019.
The north of the country has been mired in a serious crisis for a year with the massive influx of people – most of them Venezuelan nationals -, the collapse of small border towns, anti-immigration marches and xenophobic attacks.
So far this year, at least seven people have died in this context of conflict, while in 2021 there were more than 20 deaths. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warned in December 2021 that around 500 Venezuelan refugees and migrants, including children, cross irregular border crossings between Bolivia and Chile daily and arrive in the country “after several days without food.” , with dehydration, hypothermia and altitude sickness”.
In Chile there are 1.4 million migrants, which is equivalent to more than 7% of the population, with Venezuelans being the most numerous, followed by Peruvians, Haitians and Colombians.
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