Venezuelans brave 'brutal' migrant route made tougher by pandemic

Ángel García breathed heavily through his mouth as he hiked out of Pamplona, a scenic town nested in the Andes Mountains and located 2,300 meters above sea level.

With his belongings stuffed into a blue back-pack and a red gym bag that hung from his right shoulder, the 21-year-old was making a 1,600km (1,000 mile) trek to the Colombian city of Cali, where he was hoping to live with a cousin and find construction work.

"This has been brutal" said Mr García, who left the Venezuelan city of Valencia in the last week of September without any money for the bus fare. "Nobody wants to give us a lift here. Every day we are hungry and we're cold."

Mr García, who was travelling with his partner, said that he left Venezuela with about $1 (£0.75) in his pocket. It was all he could save from his job as a butcher, which paid about $10 a week.