Fourteen Venezuelans, who said they entered Guyana illegally to find work in the light of the collapsing economy of their home nation, now face deportation.
The nine men and five women, who pleaded guilty to charges of entering Guyana illegally, were yesterday fined by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan, who also ordered their deportation.
The Georgetown court heard that on July 20, at Eteringbang, Cuyuni-Mazaruni, Gabriel Cheverria, 26; Richard Delgado, 28; Edgar Castillo, 42; Leonardo Liendro, 32; Jose Subero, 24; Dannys Diaz, 20; Jesas Figueria, 21; David Rengel, 24; and Ramon Rodriguez, 32, entered Guyana by sea and disembarked without the consent of an immigration officer.
The court was also told that Kisriana Gareia, 25; Hellen Burgos, 28; Yecser Toledo, 22; Erik Maza, 30; and Yineurys Lara, 26, entered the country illegally. Like the nine men, the five Venezuelan women admitted to the charge after it was read to them by the Chief Magistrate.
When the Venezuelans were given a chance to address the court, with the aid of an interpreter, they each told the court that they left their families to travel to Guyana in search of work so that they can earn money to buy food and clothing to take back home.
One of the women broke down in tears as she told the court that due to the economic crisis in her homeland, all she wanted to do is to provide for her children and coming to Guyana was her only option.
She said that she and the other four women are friends who decided to leave and travel to Guyana together.
The men shared similar sentiments about the struggle in Venezuela. One of them said that he thought it was okay to come to Guyana to work, since there are so many Guyanese freely travelling over to Venezuela to work.
After hearing from the defendants, the Chief Magistrate fined all 14 of them $10,000 each. If either of them cannot pay the fine, he or she will have to spend six days in prison. The Chief Magistrate also mentioned that upon payment of the fine or the completion of the jail sentence, the accused are to be deported immediately to Venezuela.
Due to a fall in world oil prices and years of economic mismanagement, Venezuela has been in the throes of an economic crisis, which has seen critical shortages of basic commodities like food, and rationing of utility services, such as water and electricity.
There has also been skyrocketing crime and increasing protests against the Nicolas Maduro-led government.
