August 19, 2005
THE MISGUIDED MILLIONS
100 drown trying to reach U.S. (Toronto Star, August 19th, 2005)
Last week, 113 men, women and children boarded a tiny fishing boat with dreams of a new life in the United States. Today, only nine were believed alive after clinging for days to debris in the Pacific Ocean, watching their companions let go — one by one — and slip below the water.Pedro Diaz, a heavyset 28-year-old farmer, cried bitterly as he recalled the final words of his sister-in-law before she let go of the plastic barrel keeping them afloat.
"Carmen said to me, `Save yourself if you can so you can tell this story,' " he said.
The group assembled before sunrise on Aug. 12 in Esmeraldas, 200 kilometres north of Manta. The 20-metre fishing boat was built for only 10 people, Ecuador's navy said, but the smugglers loaded 113 aboard for the journey to Guatemala, expected to last six or seven days.
The passengers then planned to continue north by land from Guatemala, crossing Mexico and entering the United States illegally in search of jobs that paid decent wages. The trip to Guatemala cost them $10,000 US apiece, relatives said.
Poor wretched fools. If only they had listened to the right people.
Posted by Peter Burnet at August 19, 2005 7:16 AMThe passengers then planned to continue north by land from Guatemala, crossing Mexico and entering the United States illegally in search of jobs that paid decent wages. The trip to Guatemala cost them $10,000 US apiece, relatives said.
That's a pretty iffy trip.
Mexico guards their southern border better than the U.S. do their border with Mexico.
The odds of them getting into the U.S. couldn't have been better than two out of five.
Was that ten grand upfront, or to be worked off ?
Because for US$ 10,000 upfront, it seems probable that they could have arranged better transport than an overloaded fishing boat.
They could have made a basic catamaran raft for a lot less.
Something doesn't sound right. $10,000 times 113 people is $1,130,000. How bad can things be in Esmeraldas, if people have $10,000 to buy passage on a leaky, little boat?
Posted by: AllenS at August 19, 2005 8:30 AMDoesn't pass the smell test.
Posted by: erp at August 19, 2005 8:56 AMI can believe it. Presumably they've been promised passage across the border and maybe documents and shelter when they arrive. Boat people from Asia have paid a lot more. We're always willing to pay a huge premium for our dreams.
Posted by: Peter B at August 19, 2005 9:33 AMThe Chinese typically agree to work off their $ 35,000 fee after they get here, be indentured servants, and they don't pay up front.
I assume that this is much the same, but it's not clear.
Posted by: Michael Herdegen at August 19, 2005 11:06 AMI doubt the 10k was paid up front. If they had it, they'd be among the prosperous in Ecuador. If they still wanted to come to the US, they could have bought an airplane ticket, pocketed most of it, and simply disappeared afterward.
Posted by: Chris Durnell at August 19, 2005 11:24 AMMust have been a promise to repay - or perhaps a pool total of 10K considering the average yearly pay in Ecuador is about $1500 (excluding the oil contractors). An Ecuadorian who could come up with 10k in cash would be more than capable of finding an easier way into the States.
Posted by: Shelton at August 19, 2005 12:29 PM