Children are being trafficked from Ecuador to Venezuela. The children
work in virtual slavery conditions as street vendors, domestic workers and prostitutes.
They are abducted, sold by parents or lured by false promises. (Vladimir Villegas of the
congressional Human Rights Commission, Estrella Gutierrez, "Child Traffic in
Venezuela Tip of the Iceberg," IPS, 11 January 1998) ("Exploited children
going home," Miami Herald, Associated Press, 22 January 1998)
Women, desperate for work and money, are recruited through
advertisements in mainstream newspapers. They are trafficked to Spain, where their
passports are taken away and they are prostituted in massage parlors and brothels
("Venezuelan Sex-Slaves Sold in Trade-Offs to Spanish Wayside Brothels," Patrick
J. O'Donoghue, Vheadline-Venezuela's Internet News, 18 November 1997
Case
Nine Ecuadorean children indentured by their parents to a group of Ecuadorean
traffickers in Venezuela were repatriated in February 1997. "Children are being
transited from the Andes region and the country-side into prostitution in Punto Fijo and
mining areas." (Fernando Pereira, CECODAPdirector of CECODAP, Patrick
O’Donoghue).
Official Response and Action
Venezuela "is incapable of stopping and dealing with child trafficking."
(Nancy Periera, director of National Institute of Minors, "Child Slavery in Venezuela
is on a Very Much Greater Scale than Most People Imagine or Wish to Beleive," VHeadline/VENews,
20 January 1998)
Official Corruption and Collaboration
In January 1998, two Ecuadorean girls, age 14 and 17, escaped and told police of 200
other minors who were enslaved. Police who were able to track down and rescue 15 other
children, aged 9 - 17, who were repatriated. Nine Ecuadorean adults were arrested. A
Venezuelan police officer who allegedly helped get the children into the country, and
sexually abused several of them, is under investigation. The Equadoran and Venezuelan
governments are involved in a cover-up. (Vladimir Villegas of the congressional Human
Rights Commission, Estrella Gutierrez, "Child Traffic in Venezuela Tip of the
Iceberg," IPS, 11 January 1998 & "Exploited children going
home," Miami Herald, Associated Press, 22 January 1998)
As of 1997, 86% of the prostitutes in Venezuela are citizens, the other
14% being foreigners. This is a reversal of previous statistics that concluded the
opposite. There were 350,000 prostitutes registered with the Health Ministry in 1995.
(Patrick J. O’Donoghue, "More Venezuelan Women Are Becoming ‘Sex
Workers’ Because of the Economic Crisis," VHeadline/VENews, 6 December
1997)