By Johnny Coomansingh
Since 2018, Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) has experienced unprecedented flows, rather than invasions of migrants from Venezuela. As we all know, Trinidad is just seven miles away from the South American mainland, Venezuela being its closest neighbour. Although known to possess the highest levels of petroleum reserves in the world, in terms of its economic situation, Venezuela has seen mass migrations away from the country. There seems to be a real struggle for the less fortunate to live in Venezuela.
It could be that dwellers from the barrios are seeking new places to hide and reside where they could at least survive. There are centrifugal and centripetal forces that are operating in the Venezuelan economic system; the push and pull factors are blatant. Impoverished Venezuelans, labelled in T&T as ‘Venez,’ are now running to countries such as Colombia, Guyana and T&T in search of a better standard of living. Who knows when this migratory pattern will end? Let’s look at the situation a little closer in T&T.
Based on the Regional Inter-agency Coordination Platform for Venezuelans (R4V) – Refugees and Migrant Response, it is estimated that a total of 38,000 Venezuelan refugees and migrants will reside in T&T by the end of 2023. This increase is noteworthy considering that in 2019, a total of 16,523 Venezuelan migrants were registered by the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and reports indicated that approximately 14,000 had re-registered in March 2021.
At one point in time, the Venez were seen buying toilet paper and many other supplies in T&T to carry back to Venezuela. Then the pattern changed. They started flocking by the droves to the southwestern shores of Trinidad. Jumping off the pirogues, running from the shoreline and quickly heading for the bushes to hide, was the modus operandi for the Venez. Here’s a glimpse of what the Venez undergo when they make it to the bushes to hide.
Radhica De Silva reported in her article “Venezuelans hide in forest; feed on mangoes, coconuts” (Trinidad and Tobago Guardian, 23/05/2019):
“Desperate to escape being caught by the police, more than 50 Venezuelan women and their children are hiding in the forests of Icacos, feeding off mangoes and coconuts. By dusk, when the mosquitoes, gnats and sandflies descend to feed, the hungry women stumble out of the forests in search of food, holding their children protectively around them.
“It is so sad seeing them. I cannot imagine how they are living in there where there are snakes and all kinds of animals,” she said. Williams added, “We estimate that about 300 of them came up here over the past few days. On Wednesday I saw one woman who had a baby not older than a year. The other child was about four. They were looking for food. They run across the road when they saw me.” She said whenever the Venezuelans see the police, Customs or Immigration, they would run in the bushes and hide.”
Who knows how many Venez are really in T&T? Who knows how many are registered? Who knows what the Venez are bringing into T&T? Nevertheless, the Venez are here in T&T by the thousands, ‘fighting for places to live, jobs, food and health care just like all the citizens of T&T!
According to the Assessment Capacities Project (ACAPS), as of November 2023, there were approximately 44,800 Venezuelan migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers residing in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T). This number represents the highest per capita population of Venezuelans in the Caribbean as of 2024, with the islands having a total population of 1.5 million.
ACAPS is an independent organization that provides humanitarian data and analysis to support to humanitarian community. They conduct independent, groundbreaking humanitarian analysis to help humanitarian workers, influencers, fundraisers, and donors make better-informed decisions. ACAPS focuses on the needs and access situation of people affected by crises and identifies risks to help responders anticipate and respond.
Most Venezuelan migrants lack access to regular status and are susceptible to increased immigration detention, deportation, and the risk of refoulement (the forcible return of refugees or asylum seekers to a country where they are liable to be subjected to persecution), especially for those registered after the implementation of the 2019 Migrant Registration Framework. Children represent a significant proportion of refugees and migrants: 85% of those registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) are Venezuelan. Their protection needs are particularly acute.
Sea routes used by migrants to reach T&T expose them to protection and safety risks. There have been reports of boats shipwrecked on the way to the islands. In an article, “11fleeing Venezuelans drown,” Andrea Perez-Sobers in the Trinidad Express (13/12/2020) reported:
“The hope of making a new start in life ended in tragedy after the bodies of 11 Venezuelan nationals bound for Trinidad and Tobago, including four minors, were recovered in the waters close to the Venezuelan coastal town of Guiria. It has been reported that seven adults and four children, including an 11-month-old baby, were found by Venezuelan authorities…Nine adults and children who were also believed to be on board are said to be still missing.”
Venezuelan migrants have also denounced cases of human trafficking and child labor both during their journey and after arriving in the country but this is questionable. While doing research on community-based tourism, a hotel entrepreneur informed me that despite the empty hotels, there is an underground economy operating in the system. It was clear that Venez women were always available for employment. I did not seek to investigate further because doing that part of the research would have been too risky. Migrants with irregular status face protection risks related to discrimination, deportation, and xenophobia. The inability to access legal status limits their livelihood and job opportunities.
Nevertheless, ten days ago (06/06/2025) the article “12 adult Venezuelan women, minor found in Tunapuna raid” appeared in the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian:
“A police raid, which involved the Counter Trafficking Unit (CTU), has resulted in the discovery of 12 adult Venezuelan women and one 16-year-old at a location in Tunapuna. The raid was at a residence on St Vincent Street, Tunapuna where a total of 17 people were found – 12 adult females between the ages of 18 and 26, two adult males aged 21 and 28, one minor female aged 16, and two babies under the age of three.
A statement by the Ministry of National Security said that all were Venezuelan nationals, except for one of the babies, who is a Trinidadian national. Rapid human trafficking screening was conducted on-site, resulting in the identification of three adult females as Victims of Trafficking (VoTs)…One Venezuelan national was arrested at the scene…Additionally, officers recovered one illegal firearm and seized TT$150,000 in cash suspected to be linked to illicit trafficking proceeds. This successful operation followed intelligence related to the sexual exploitation of Latin American females in bars along the East-West Corridor and represents a decisive disruption of an active trafficking ring, marking the first of several such operations planned for 2025.”
Trinidad and Tobago is still one of the most prosperous countries in the Caribbean, primarily due to significant oil and natural gas resources, high levels of direct foreign investment and an expanding tourist industry. However, T&T, as my geography tells me, is a transhipment point for illicit drugs and probably even guns and ammunition. Just recently, a Venez young woman was seen on the television show Crime Watch, walking the street with a gun stuck in her waist. The “pull” factor is therefore strong; available data suggest that one-third of intra-Caribbean migrants reside in Trinidad and Tobago. Not all Venez are polite, hard-working and considerate. Some come with a criminal attitude; some even die fighting against the Trinidad and Tobago police.
Trinidad and Tobago faces considerable security challenges and is an active transit point for regional and extra-regional irregular migration to North America and Europe. People smugglers and human traffickers are active, taking advantage of porous borders. Governments in the region, including T&T, remain particularly concerned about the vulnerability of their borders to transnational organized crime networks. I have no idea of what will be the fate of the residing Venez. Trinidad and Tobago is still fighting to hold back the flood of Venez illegally entering the country; a literal fiasco!
For decades, perhaps generations, there have always been relatively good relations between Venezuela and T&T, even when Venezuela’s Guardia Nacional harassed our fishermen and petroleum personnel working without our boundaries in the Gulf of Paria.
Many fishermen were imprisoned in Venezuelan jails during that era until serious complaints were lodged with the Organization of American States (OAS). Today there’s a different story. The Venez invade, according to world-famous cultural geographer Wilbur Zelensky, bringing with them their cultural baggage. Actually, Trinis do not mind the parranda music, the arepas, empanadas, and their hard work but the criminal elements some bring with them should stay home in Venezuela.
Here are a few lines from my poem titled: “If Yuh Din Know” on the Venez debacle:
“Yuh remember long, long time ago
When people in Trinidad and Tobago
Had to go to the Organization of American States (OAS)
Tuh hold back Venezuela from making arrests?
Ah want yuh tuh know if yuh din know.
Yuh remember El Guardia Nacional with no regard
Chasing we fishermen with machine gun because dey big and bad
And then jump on dey boat and throw dem in Venez jail?
Then Ralph Maraj had tuh complain how we ketchin’ we tail?
Ah want yuh tuh know if yuh din know.
And then to Colombia by the droves they came
Crossing the waters to Trinidad in Jesus name!
Boatload after boatload they flocked to our shore
Trinidad too small! We cyar take no more!
Ah want yuh tuh know if yuh din know.
In Los Iros and Cedros with pirogue dey come
Trinidad is dem land now…a new found home
Some ah dem drown in the passage dey make
The sea eh have branch, no fren, and souls it will take!
Ah want yuh tuh know if yuh din know.”
Apart from the literal invasion of T&T by the Venez, there are political upheavals between the two countries that are worrisome. In recent days, there has been somewhat of a ‘fallout’ between Venezuela and T&T. Could it be the result of the discontinuance of the “Dragon Gas” deal that was coordinated by the former government, the People’s National Movement (PNM)? This arrangement saw T&T paying huge sums of money to the Venezuelan government to stay in the ‘dance.’
There is a book titled: The Dragon Can’t Dance by local author, Earl Lovelace, and certainly, this ‘dragon’ cannot dance at the moment. The United States government curtailed the dance, the PNM Conga Line with Venezuela and T&T. Trinidad and Tobago had to listen and bow out; never to bite the hand that feeds the country. In graduate school, I remember quite clearly a statement I had before me on my desk: “If you choose to dance with the alligator, be prepared for when the music stops.”
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