Original subtitles

oh

I'm going I'm from Honduras there's lots

of unemployment there

[Music]

yeah I mean I wouldn't want anything to

happen to my child

we only live once

[Music]

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

Ed

[Music]

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

[Music]

it's hard back home

the gangs the marists are everywhere

and the authorities are also corrupt

they threaten and extort us if we don't

do as they say

okay six 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 six 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

six 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 6 000 Euros per month

and there are terrible consequences for

not paying

what if you don't pay hey then you get

constant threats everyone ends up paying

out of fear

I've had colleagues that were killed for

not paying foreign

[Music]

foreign

is the center of business industry and

Commerce in Honduras

but the city is also a hot spot of

criminal gangs murders and extortion

is

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

the 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 extortionist

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

Hurricane's Etta and Yota 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

[Music]

when it rains here everything gets

submerged overloading the sewers and

canals some houses simply got flooded

with sewage

there was negras inclusive 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

yes we're practically living in a ghost

town now

okay

[Music]

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 us

because the situation here is so

hopeless

[Applause]

there's still this is

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

yes

there were dead animals in the water

dogs horses cows

let's talk

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 foreign

[Music]

foreign

[Music]

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

[Music]

oh

from San Pedro Sula we traveled to

alancho as the largest of honduras's 18

departments it has a dark past of its

own

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 bloodsheds

this is the Cathedral of hutikalpa and

every year on December 8 we celebrate

the Festival of a patron saint but

sometimes eight or ten people would be

shot dead during these celebrations

[Music]

foreign

[Music]

has also seen Mass emigration together

with her relief organization Linda Karen

yoya is trying to convince the remaining

residents to stay put

this case is not 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

where's the little one

right here

our organization tries to help where it

can Maybe

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

oh sweetie

she needs surgery but it costs almost 3

000 Euros surgery on this hip would

straighten her leg so she would be able

to walk

[Music]

[Laughter]

the girl's 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

see

taxi idea 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 eight people

depending on an uncertain salary

it would make most people despair but

these are the conditions you'll find all

over the country

foreign

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

that'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're leaving here yes

with my mom

and how are you going to manage

traveling alone is dangerous not to

mention having a child with special

needs I know it won't be easy

[Laughter]

[Music]

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

[Music]

let's see how it goes I trust that with

God's help all will be well

[Music]

yeah 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

[Music]

most of the younger generation from

elantro have moved to the U.S 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

5 billion

Alberto cauci is a priest in Chota kalpa

a native of Malta he's lived in the city

since 1985.

couchy 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

couchy

it is obvious to the 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

nice 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 I can't afford a bed

but that's not it

we franciscans live very much by the

motto poor but not miserable no

foreign

let's all stand up

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

foreign

[Music]

[Music]

she's in first grade last year she went

to a kindergarten close by but now she's

going to school

when I'm 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

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've 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

now we're 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

thank you

[Music]

foreign

despite being less affected by the gang

violence elantro has also seen a wave of

migration

to better understand this we have to

take a closer look at the region

[Music]

El Salvador Guatemala and Honduras all

have a serious game problem

street gangs what they've got

here in Orlando 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

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

[Music]

[Laughter]

that's why we're better protected

against the gangs

it's worse in San Pedro Sula

their people get robbed because they

don't know each other

it's more complicated there

[Music]

Bleak prospects are one of the main

reasons for the emigration of so many

olancho residents especially in the

countryside

we're more than 1 000 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 foreign

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

there are good job opportunities here as

well

and I think that will slow down the

emigration a bit

[Applause]

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 that 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

foreign

[Music]

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 is Her diagnosis

she has moderate cerebral palsy it's

left all of her left side paralyzed

foreign

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

foreign

of course she wants to help her daughter

but there's no guarantee that she'll

make it and one possibility is that the

girls will lose their mother along the

way

she's 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

foreign

there may not be any gangs in elantro

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's two brothers set up 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 isn't enough and you haven't even

deposited that much

the minimum would be half price two

thousand dollars each

500 won't get you anywhere

the kidnappers first demanded eight

thousand dollars

then they went down to 2000.

how friends and acquaintances pulled us

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

neighboring Villages could we finally

manage to get the full 2000 that the

kidnappers had demanded

um

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 kidnap is low The Ransom

otherwise we'd never have made it

no not yet

I can't wait to hear from them but I

still have no word

do you think they'll 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

and

I think you should return home if you

can't make it across the border

[Music]

foreign

the town of Rosario with 5 000

inhabitants depends on money sent from

the U.S

Rosario profits a lot from these

remittances

they increase the quality of life for

our residents

and help to further develop our town

the immigrants helped 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 try to emigrate

to the United States but ended up in the

hands of Mexican kidnappers

Palos Reyes is one of them

I was kidnapped on my way to the U.S

there's 200. what happened in Reynosa

where I was waiting for a few days to be

able to cross the river

and 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

four thousand dollars each

[Music]

our family was certain that they'd both

get killed the ransom that the

kidnappers demanded was way too high we

didn't have eight thousand dollars it

was a really tough 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 golf cartel

they kidnap people and demand large

ransoms from their families

[Music]

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 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 silence

they stopped me for a week and didn't

even give me water

foreign

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 five

hundred 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

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

[Music]

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 us the future only God

knows if he will eventually make it to

the U.S

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 it at

all he was very weak and had no appetite

he suffered from mental distress yes he

just kept crying all the time

que paso

the stories of Carlos Reyes and the

brothers of Daniel Santos could be said

to have a happy ending

unfortunately that's not how all of them

turn out

and when hurricane 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 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

see yes 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 ransoms

how much do they want

eight thousand dollars

in some cases even fifteen thousand or

Twenty Thousand 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

[Music]

for gravy Sanchez this story has just

begun and only time will tell how her

journey pans out

[Music]

the coyotes demand seven thousand and

five hundred dollars for getting me and

my daughter across

seven thousand five hundred from here

San Francisco de La Paz to the U.S

yes all the way to the U.S

do you have a guarantee

[Music]

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

[Music]

foreign

[Music]