The Trinidadian shipping company Puerto Caribe is waiting for official permits from the TT and Venezuelan authorities to help in the repatriation of 6,500 Venezuelans.
Sheliza Sebastiani, owner of Puerto Caribe, which is based in Chaguaramas, told Sunday Newsday her goal is to try to help refugees who are in a precarious situation due to the covid19restrictions.
Sebastiani has great affection for Venezuela: “I lived for more than ten years in Caracas. I am a woman, a mother and above all a human being and seeing this situation of Venezuelans here has made me understand I must help them."
Sebatiani and her team decided to join forces to help Venezuelans return home.
"Venezuelans in TT are in a very difficult situation at the moment. I know many refugees and they write to me asking for help with food and to pay the rent. That is painful for me."
A post in a Facebook group of Venezuelans in TT was the start of a repatriation aid plan.
She posted in the group asking who wanted to go to Venezuela, "and within a few hours I had hundreds of comments. As a result, I sent our phone numbers so that people interested in going to Venezuela could write to me and thus start making a list.”
As of Friday, 6,567 Venezuelans had registered.
She said she called the Venezuelan embassy in TT and the Ministry of National Security and has written to the authorities in Caracas asking for support to repatriate the Venezuelans.
"We are doing everything legally, and therefore we need authorisations to leave Trinidad and to enter Venezuela,"
Sebatiani said officials from the Ministry of National Security spoke with her this week to try to help.
"They are asking me for the full list of people, and we are transcribing it digitally to deliver it as soon as possible," she said.
Puerto Caribe is a shipping delivery company between TT and Venezuela, created a year and a half ago. It has already organised the lists and the boats to start the trip sand is only awaiting authorisation.
“We have the Doña Betty and Cargo Express ships, with capacity for 85 and 40 people respectively,” she said.
Sebatiani explained the objective is to send people for free, since they are unemployed. However, each passenger must pay US$50 to covered the logistical costs.
“We are trying to get other shipping companies to join, but they don't want to do it for free, so we continue to advance alone,” Sebastiani said.
[caption id="attachment_895031" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Owner of the Puerto Caribe shipping company Sheliza Del Coromoto Sebastiani at her Chaguaramas office last Thursday. - Marvin Hamilton[/caption]
“We have already sent all the documents. When the authorities approve the permits, the two ships will come to Trinidad to pick up the selected passengers for each trip.”
The trips will take approximately 120 people each and the priority passengers are pregnant women, single mothers and older adults.
Puerto Caribe aims to make two weekly repatriation trips directly to the city of Guiria.
"We have two buses already rea
