I’m from Honduras. There’s lots of
unemployment here. I wouldn’t want anything
to happen to my child. We only live once. As a journalist, I was covering drug trafficking
and the politicians involved in it. We had to flee the country
after several death threats and one
assassination attempt. Where are you from? From Honduras. You don’t find work there, and if you do it’s badly paid. And then there is all the
extortion from the gangs. It’s hard
back home. The gangs, the
maras, are everywhere. And the authorities
are also corrupt. They threaten and extort
us if we don’t do as they say. I have to pay
6 euros a week. That amount could
be even higher. When many people are being extorted as
a group, the individual amount is lower. If you add up the 6 euros
from each individual bus driver, it’s already a
considerable sum. And if you assume that
one company has 50 vehicles and each driver has to pay
6 euros, that's a lot of money. In general, transport companies
are particularly vulnerable. I know of companies that
have had to cancel entire routes because otherwise they would have
had to pay 6000 euros per month. And there are terrible
consequences for not paying. What if you
don’t pay? Then you get
constant threats. Everyone ends up
paying out of fear. I’ve had colleagues that
were killed for not paying. San Pedro Sula is
the center of business, industry and
commerce in Honduras. But the city is also a hotspot of criminal gangs,
murders, and extortion. Among themselves, gang
members brag about their tattoos, how many people they’ve
killed and being the toughest. But outwards, outside
of the gang environment, they behave
very differently. You could be eating
at a nice restaurant, having a conversation about
gangs, while a gang member with no visible tattoos is
sitting at the table next to you. The criminal gangs have infiltrated
politics at the highest level. They influence MPs, ministers, and
even the police anti-extortion unit. It’s sad but somehow funny
that a commander of that unit was caught extorting
the extortionists. So, the police,
supposedly fighting crime, were themselves
blackmailing the criminals. The extortion money was then used
to fund the political campaigns of MPs and even presidential
candidates. In San Pedro Sula, these extortionist
gangs have become a real plague. But that's not the only
thing the city’s residents have had to
contend with. In November 2020, forces
of nature also took their toll. Hurricanes Eta and Iota caused
the worst destruction in decades in the city and the
surrounding region. And the areas inundated by the
floods still haven’t fully recovered. When it rains here,
everything gets submerged, overloading the
sewers and canals. Some houses simply
got flooded with sewage. Many people
lost their houses, and my own home was also
swept away by the floods. Many houses
here are empty. The people left
them after the disaster and most of them haven’t returned yet because the streets
are in such bad condition and everything
else is in disrepair. We’re practically living
in a ghost town now. We only returned because
otherwise we would be homeless. We have nowhere
else to go. Many people have
left everything behind and migrated north
towards the U.S., because the situation
here is so hopeless. You can see that a big
crack opened up in this wall after one month
of constant rain. The water
reached up to there. It just kept pouring
down without pause and a lot of people ended up dying. There were dead
animals in the water. Dogs, horses, cows. And this is
what’s left. It’s like a
ghost town. The houses are
in bad shape, and you can see how high
the water level was at the time, just by looking
around. Almost everything
got destroyed. People didn’t return to their houses
because they’re afraid of diseases, so the streets are
basically empty. Almost all Honduran migrants come
from the poorest layers of society. There's a lot of inequality
and no social justice. The country’s biggest
mafia is the government, which is involved in the
criminal activities of the gangs. People are trying to
escape from hunger, and they too have hopes
and dreams of a better life. They see politicians and rich
entrepreneurs living in luxury mansions and driving expensive cars,
while the poor part of society has to bend over
backwards just to scrape by. From San Pedro Sula
we travel to Olancho. As the largest of Honduras’
eighteen departments, it has a dark
past of its own. Olancho used to be notorious for people
taking the law into their own hands, like in the old
Wild West. There used to be
tremendous violence here Parties would often
end in bloodshed. This is the cathedral of Juticalpa
and every year on December 8 we celebrate the
festival of a patron saint. But sometimes 8 or 10 people would be
shot dead during these celebrations. Olancho has also
seen mass emigration. Together with her
relief organization, Linda Karen Yuoa is trying to convince
the remaining residents to stay put. This case is
not that simple. Our organization has done everything
in its power to help the family. But their situation
is complicated because one of the
children has special needs. The mother has two
other children and no job. So, understandably
she gets desperate because no mother wants
to see her children suffer. How are you doing? Good, I was
expecting you. Come right in. Here you go. And where’s
the little one? Right here. Our organization tries
to help where it can. She has three
daughters. Their father took off and
she has no idea where he is. Here she comes. This is
the one with special needs. Hi sweetie! She needs surgery, but it
costs almost 3000 euros. Surgery on this hip would straighten
her leg so she would be able to walk. The girls' father left for the
U.S. about three years ago. At first, he stayed in touch, but I
haven't heard from him in ages. He doesn't answer the phone
anymore, or maybe he has a new number. There’s no
reply in any case. Initially, when he
was planning his trip, he asked me if he could
take one of the girls with him. I said no, and maybe
he was angry about that. Then all of a sudden, he just left
on his own, without any warning just like that. My brother
has a job. He drives a
cab in town. And he’s the one who brings us
food every day and keeps us going. As a motorcycle cab driver, you
have good days and bad days, but you have
to eat every day. It’s not easy when you have 8 people
depending on an uncertain salary. It would make
most people despair, but these are the conditions
you’ll find all over the country. The kids' teacher said that
there's a lot of migration. Yes, more and more children
are being taken out of school because their
families are leaving. So, the classes
keep shrinking. And without students, there won’t
be any work for the teachers either. It’s the same at
the Kindergarten. There are hardly
any children left there. And you definitely want
to leave for the U.S.? Yes. With her? With her. The other
two you are leaving here. Yes, with my mom. And how are you
gonna manage? Traveling alone
is dangerous, not to mention having a
child with special needs. I know it
won’t be easy. I’ve heard that it is supposed to be
a really hard and exhausting journey. It takes two, or
even three weeks. The lucky ones make it across
the border, but some don’t. Let's see
how it goes. I trust that with God’s
help, all will be well. From here the route
goes to San Pedro Sula and from there it crosses
the border into Guatemala. It goes through Guatemala
and across the Mexican border. In Mexico, immigration from the south
has been turned into a shady business. There are kidnappings and
coyotes who demand fees for smuggling people
across the U.S. border. And there is very little
anyone can do about it. Most of the younger generation
from Olancho have moved to the US. There are villages completely
devoid of young people. Everywhere in Honduras
the population is getting older because the young
are fleeing the situation at home looking for a better
future in the United States. Alberto Cauci is a
priest in Juticalpa. A native of Malta, he’s
lived in the city since 1985. Cauci has raised money
to build a soccer stadium, a home for the elderly,
and a children's home. In Honduras, where corruption
is everywhere, people trust Cauci. It is obvious to residents
that the money he collected did not go into
his own pockets. This is
where I live. I have a small kitchen,
a toilet and a bathroom. It's small, but it's
enough for me. This is my bedroom. It’s not because I’m poor that
my mattress is on the ground. It’s because I tend to roll out of
bed and hit my head on the floor. So, I prefer being
closer to the ground. Some people think that I can't
afford a bed, but that's not it. We Franciscans live very much by
the motto, "Poor but not miserable." Let's all stand up. She’s in
first grade. Last year she went to a kindergarten
close by, but now she’s going to school. When I am away, the kids will stay
with my sister-in-law and my mom. The two of them will
take care of them for me. It will be very difficult because I’ve
never been away from my daughters. But I'm only doing this to give
all three of them a better future. Even if two will
have to stay here, I’ll never abandon
them like their father did. It is tough having to leave them
behind because they're still so small. Of course, you must continue
coming to school every day unless we have a
note from your parents. We have lost a significant
number of students. Not just here, but all over the
region and all over the country. Migration is really
affecting us too. There are fewer and
fewer students every year. Last year we had
70 school children, so we were able to
employ more teachers then. Now we are down
to 42 children. Most of the children have emigrated
to the USA with their parents. The U.S. government recently
decided to allow parents accompanying their underage
children to cross the border. So now the children are
effectively being used as visas. That has caused many parents
to take their children out of school and bring them along
for the risky journey. That’s what’s been
happening to our children lately. Despite being less affected
by the gang violence Olancho has also seen a
wave of migration. To better understand this, we have
to take a closer look at the region. El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras
all have a serious gang problem. Here in Olancho we
don't have any of that. The street gangs from the
coast, around San Pedro Sula, have tried to
set up shop here, but for various reasons they
haven’t been able to gain any footing. Thank God we don't have
that problem in Olancho. This is a region where
everybody knows everybody. And if a stranger arrives
here and tries that stuff, they are either quickly sent
back to where they came from or straight into
the afterlife. That’s why we are better
protected against the gangs. It’s worse in
San Pedro Sula. There people get robbed
because they don't know each other. It's more
complicated there. Bleak prospects are one of the
main reasons for the emigration of so many Olancho residents,
especially in the countryside. We’re more than 1000
meters above sea level. Here, we’ve just finished
our coffee harvest. Honestly, this year's
harvest was very good for us, but we had real problems
finding enough workers. There is a
shortage of workers. The main reason is that
most of the young people who are usually working
in the fields have emigrated. They go to the
United States, thinking that will be the
solution to all their problems. Nowadays, there are good
job opportunities here as well And I think that will slow
down the emigration a bit. Most of us poor farmers
focus on the simpler crops, mainly growing
corn and beans. But those harvests are
basically worth nothing. The last thing I tried
to grow was beans. I had to invest 400
euros in my plot. Of course, as a farmer, you assume
you will make a profit on the harvest. But I didn’t earn anything
from my beans, on the contrary. I only got 120 euros
back out of my 400 euro investment. I’ve tried twice now, but I
couldn't make a profit either time. I don’t know
what I will do. I love my country and
I'm happy here, but I guess I will have
to try a third time. Of course, I'm afraid
that they will send us back because we’re all making a
great sacrifice by deciding to leave. But I dream of a better
future for my child. I want her to finally be
able to walk normally. The doctor told me that with
surgery she has a 90% chance of being able to use
her legs normally. What’s her
diagnosis? She has moderate
cerebral palsy. It’s left all of her
left side paralyzed. My oldest daughter
also needs me. I don't really want to
leave her, or any of them. They all need me, but the one with
special needs more than the others. I can understand her
gestures and facial expressions. She signals with her eyes
when she is thirsty or hungry. Without me, her life
would be much harder. Of course, she wants
to help her daughter, but there is no guarantee
that she will make it. And one possibility is that the girls
will lose their mother along the way. She is setting out carrying her girl and not knowing what
dangers lie ahead. We can't stop her, but we
also don't have the resources to give her the help
she needs here. There may not be
any gangs in Olancho, but that doesn't mean residents
are safe from their violence. Those trying to get to the
U.S. in search of a better life may encounter great
danger along the way. Daniel Santos' two brothers set
out for the U.S. some time ago. No one had heard from them since,
until one day when the phone rang. We received
voice messages. You won’t see your sons again until
you pay. 500 dollars isn’t enough, and you haven’t even
deposited that much. The minimum would be half
price, 2000 dollars each. 500 dollars won't
get you anywhere. The kidnappers first demanded 8000
dollars, then they went down to 2000. Our friends and acquaintances pooled
as much money together as they could. But how are we going to
find that kind of money? We live from hand to mouth
and mostly eat rice and beans. Only by making a collection
in the neighbouring villages could we finally manage
to get the full 2000 that the kidnappers had demanded. The two of them had been
planning to leave for a long time. I was against it, but
they went anyway. It was just sad. I went home and all
I could do was cry. I didn't know where we were
going to get such an amount. But when my friends
found out about the situation, they started scraping together
the money to save my brothers. Thank God the kidnappers
lowered the ransom. Otherwise, we’d
never have made it. Have you talked
to your brothers? No, not yet. I can’t wait to hear from
them, but I still have no word. Do you think they
will return home? God will lead
them back to me. With the help of God,
they’ll make it back. I haven’t been happy
since the day they left. It was especially bad
when they were in captivity. It's just
all so sad. They are looking for a
better life, but it’s not easy. No. And they are
risking their lives. It's unwise, and I think
you should return home if you can't make
it across the border. The town of Rosario,
with 5000 inhabitants, depends on money
sent from the US. Rosario profits a lot
from these remittances. They increase the quality
of life for our residents and help to further
develop our town. The emigrants help their
hometowns by sending money back to make life a little
better for their relatives. The money arriving helps to improve
the infrastructure in every way. It’s also used to
repair people’s homes and raise the general
quality of life in town. Most of the construction right now is
funded with money from relatives abroad. Many Rosario residents tried
to emigrate to the United States but ended up in the hands
of Mexican kidnappers. Carlos Reyes
is one of them. I was kidnapped on
my way to the US. It happened in Reynosa where
I was waiting for a few days to be able to
cross the river. I had my
son with me. We were waiting in a shed, and
from there we were both kidnapped. They grabbed us and demanded
a ransom for our freedom. 4000 dollars each. Our family was certain that
they would both get killed. The ransom that the kidnappers
demanded was way too high. We didn't have
8000 dollars. It was a really
rough time for us It was a terrible
experience. It's still painful to think back
on what we had to go through. It’s the
Gulf Cartel. They kidnap people and demand
large ransoms from their families. The people in town began
to raise some money. We walked from village to
village collecting donations. We got a lot of help from
neighbors and friends. How did they
threaten you? They said that they’d kill us
if our families didn’t pay up. We were tied up and threatened
with guns and machetes. And how did
they treat you? Very badly
at first. They intimidated me and threatened
to hurt me if I didn't keep silent. They starved me for a week
and didn't even give me water. Were you alone? No, there
were others. I was kept in three different places,
and they had more than 150 prisoners. The kidnappers bragged
about having even more hideouts and people
in captivity. The police
are in on it too. For every prisoner the cartel
paid the police 500 dollars. It’s a business for
the police as well. So, you couldn’t
go to the police? No, we were hiding from
them, especially the state police. And how was it to
return home after that? I was extremely
happy. Even though I didn't reach my
destination, I at least made it home. It was a happy day when my
son and grandson returned, and I thank god
for returning them. I just hope he won’t try again, having
gone through such terrible things. Maybe with time it will become
safer, and the kidnappings will stop. Then he could
give it another try. Although he’s saying
he won’t leave again. Only God can
tell the future. Only God knows if he will
eventually make it to the US. How was your son doing
when he returned after all of this? He was emaciated
and in a terrible state. He and his son both had to get IV
therapy because they didn’t eat at all. He was very weak
and had no appetite. He suffered from
mental distress? Yes. He just kept
crying all the time. The stories of Carlos Reyes
and the brothers of Daniel Santos could be said to have
gotten a happy ending. Unfortunately, that’s not
how all of them turn out. When Hurricane Eta hit,
my son lost everything. As a result, he said Mama,
I can't stay here anymore. I have nothing left,
so I'm heading north. He kept in touch with us the
during his month-long journey. He made it to McAllen in Texas and said
that now the dangerous part was done. He had crossed the river
on the border, and the desert, and was totally
exhausted from the effort. This is the last
picture he sent. We got it on
the 16th of July. He was eating and told us
that the danger had passed. That’s the last time
we heard from him. It’s hard. We posted his
photo on social media because we have no
other way to look for him. It’s the only channel
available to us. Maybe someone sees the
photo and knows something. Maybe someone has
seen him or heard from him. Anything. So far, we've only received
messages demanding ransom. How much
do they want? 8000 dollars. In some cases even
15000 or 20000. They send us fake photos where his head has
been photoshopped onto another body. In some he has a
knife to his throat. The photos are
accompanied by a message that he will die
if we don't pay. I just want to know if my
son is dead. Just to know that. I can’t go on living
with this uncertainty. For Greiby Sanchez
this story has just began and only time will tell
how her journey pans out. The coyotes demand 7500 dollars
for getting me and my daughter across. 7500. From here, San
Francisco de la Paz to the U.S.? Yes. All the
way to the U.S. Do you have
a guarantee? No. The coyote was
very clear about that. Even if I don’t make it across the
border, I won’t get any money back. Then the money
is simply lost. You make the journey
at your own risk.
