By Lorena Bornacelly.
WhatsApp has been the via of communication for those who returned to Venezuela through the Tachira border, and must pass through a mandatory quarantine at the Integral Social Service Points (Pasi in Spanish) set up by the Nicolas Maduro administration. Audios reveal that the situation inside the points is difficult for adults and children.
The facilities of the National Security University house approximately 600 people, according to migrants that they are there. Overcrowding and overpopulation prevent those who arrived in the country from enduring the confinement in good conditions. The poor quality of the food is another complaint by the returnees.
The Whatsapp audio was sent by the bishop of Barinas, Rufo Montilla, to his colleague in San Cristobal, Mario Moronta, describing the situation in which returning Venezuelans are confined.
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“Meals are served twice a day. I believe that a consecrated communion wafer is bigger than the arepas they give to the people. Today (May 24), at about 2:00 in the afternoon, the lunch was, unfortunately, not optimal. The pasta was rotten, the peas had like worms in them. I am very worried about the children because there is no water to drink there,” said Montilla.
In a single room, some 30 people sleep, and they only have water for one or two hours a day.
Similarly, in another audio, a person who reserved his identity, indicated that in addition to the decomposed food, there is no control in the shelter and, although everyone has an assigned sleeping room, the common areas are crowded without anyone putting in order or giving indications about the importance of social distancing.
Neighbors next to the Unes reported to El Pitazo that they have heard shouts from the shelter, asking for water, saying “we are hungry, we want water” and singing the lyrics of the National Anthem to call the attention.
Monsignor Moronta urged the parishes of San Cristobal to undertake solidarity actions to help those who are in need at this time. “There are about six hundred people in there, they have been there for three days, and they are not being treated well in terms of food”.
Donations began to be received from the San Cristobal residents who brought bread, arepas, vegetables, and water that the church delivered during the morning and afternoon to people in the shelter.
