Journalist Yesmielen Beatswine fled her home in Venezuela in 2017, after she was targeted with threats because of her reporting. She is among more than 6 million people who have fled Venezuela in recent years amid a grinding political and economic crisis.
After six years living in Ecuador and Peru, Beatswine decided to brave the Darien Gap on foot.
That’s the notoriously dangerous swath of jungle between Colombia and Panama that has become a choke point for people from all over the world trying to reach the US.
A video shot by a friend shows Beatswine, legs covered in mud, among a large crowd inching its way up a steep hill during her five day trek through the jungle.
Advertisement
“It’s just walking and walking,” she said, in Spanish. “You get exhausted. Many people get injured, there are many people who have died there.”
Beatswine made it through, only to learn the Biden Administration had just announced a new policy for Venezuelans hoping to enter the country. They would now need to apply before reaching the border – and have a sponsor already in the U.S.
So she got in touch with Daniel Rios, her former boss at an online news publication, who lives in Cumberland.
Rios said he’d already supported other arrivals from Venezuela, including about half a dozen friends and acquaintances over the last few years.
“I can help a little bit, because they don’t have anything, and they came here with absolutely nothing,” he said.
Advertisement
Rios, who works in digital marketing, said he helps them with some of the basic steps of resettling – trips to the store for clothing and toiletries, and a place to stay.
“And I open my apartment for them. And they stayed here and now they are independent, which is the purpose,” he said.
Ari Snider
/
Advertisement
Maine Public
Daniel Rios at his Cumberland apartment. Rios says he was forced to flee his native Venezuela about seven years ago after his work as a journalist landed him in hot water with the government there. Since getting established in Maine, he’s hosted several friends and acquaintances also fleeing Venezuela’s economic and political turmoil.
Rios said he can relate to that specific immigration experience.
Until about seven years ago, he was living in Venezuela and running a digital newspaper. But an article he published that looked into the finances of one of the daughters of former president Hugo Chavez landed him in hot water with the government.
“I had a source that they told me, like, ‘Daniel, you need to leave now. If not, you’re gonna be in jail,’” he said.
So he came to Portland, where he lived with his cousin. Rios said she hosted and took care of him while he waited for his work permit, a favor he now wants to pay forward by hosting others.
Advertisement
Crystal Cron, with the advocacy and aid group Presente! Maine, said this sort of informal resettlement support is common in the Latin American immigrant communities her organization works with.
“I mean, I think that that’s the case for almost everyone,” she said.
In part, Cron said these informal networks reflect a lack of coordinated support services to Latino immigrant communities from more established social service organizations.
“I think just in terms of funding, and like political will to care about these communities that are at the fringes. So it’s just very hard, and I think, paralyzing for other groups to know what to do,” Cron said.
And she said the need for support – especially when it comes to finding housing – has become even more acute as the state continues to attract immigrants from many Central and South American countries.
Advertisement
People like Yasmielen Beatswine, who was able to travel to the U.S. last spring – through a two-year legal status known as Humanitarian Parole.
She remembered touching down at the Miami airport, and the moment customs officers let her through.
“The official said, ‘Welcome to the United States’, and I couldn’t believe it,” Beatswine said. “It was really emotional.”
In Maine, Beatswine stayed with Daniel Rios. After her work permit arrived, she landed a job cleaning houses, and Rios helped her find an apartment in Portland.
“I feel really happy and at peace,” she said. “And safe.”
Advertisement
Meanwhile, Rios’ spare bedroom may not stay empty for long. He said he’s in touch with another former employee from Venezuela, who’s in Mexico with his family, waiting for an appointment with U.S. immigration officials.
Keon Johnson had 21 points and 10 rebounds as the Maine Celtics defeated the Windy City Bulls 122-87 in an NBA G League game on Sunday afternoon at the Portland Expo.
Hason Ward scored 16 points and Jalen Bridges 14 for Maine (13-15), which had seven players score in double digits. Bridges drained four 3-pointers for the Celtics, who shot 13 for 28 (46.4%) from beyond the arc.
Max Shulga dished out 11 assists and scored nine points.
Maine led 33-18 after one quarter 72-36 at halftime.
Advertisement
Keyshawn Bryant scored a game-high 25 points for Windy City (12-12).
AUGUSTA, Maine (WABI) – An emotional day from Fairfield to Augusta, but felt throughout Maine and beyond, as state officials, community members and loved ones honored the lives of two Department of Transportation workers who tragically died in the field.
Maine DOT Commissioner Dale Doughty described the accident as “the nightmare that commissioners worry about.”
While working on Interstate 95 in January, Maine DOT workers James “Jimmy” Brown, 60, and Dwayne Campbell, 51, died after a driver failed to brake at a stop sign and crashed into a tractor-trailer traveling on the highway.
To honor the men’s commitment to public service and their legacy as fathers, outdoorsmen and Mainers, a procession including DOT officials, family members and more traveled to the Augusta Civic Center Saturday for a memorial service.
Advertisement
Among those in attendance was Gov. Janet Mills, who remarked on who Brown and Campbell were and their dedication to their profession.
“Jimmy, as you know, worked for the Maine Department of Transportation for 12 years. Dwayne for more than 23 years,” Mills described. “We could count on Jimmy and Dwayne just as we could count on the 1,600 Maine dot workers who keep our roads and bridges safe every day.”
Brown was known for his humor and love of fishing, cars and his children.
Campbell got his start in the DOT by following in his father’s footsteps. Mills said at the service that Campbell loved his daughters and time spent outdoors.
For Commissioner Doughty, losses like this hit hard because of the closely bonded “family business” that DOT is.
Advertisement
That family expands past state lines, as departments of transportation from New Hampshire and Vermont were present to show their support.
New Hampshire DOT State Maintenance Engineer Alan Hanscom said he called Maine DOT just hours after hearing of the accident to see what his crews could do to help.
“My employees are impacted or subject to the same dangers that Maine and every other state is,” Hanscom said of the importance of his attendance. “I have an employee that was killed in a motor vehicle crash some years ago, so it kind of hits home.”
Saturday’s event served not only as a commemoration but also as a call to action. Despite DOT’s training, Doughty says it is rendered useless if motorists put right-of-way employees in danger through reckless or distracted driving.
Advertisement
Hanscom expanded: “People don’t realize that this is our office. You’re driving through our office space. We’d like you to give us some consideration and slow down and be mindful of where we are. Give us a little respect.”
Doughty mentioned that these dangers extend beyond DOT workers to everyone who does roadside work. Because of this, he says, agencies must join forces to develop solutions.
“I really think it’s time, and we have a meeting coming up in April, where we pull all agencies and all companies that work in the right-of-way, contractors, utilities, everyone to start to talk about that message,” Doughty said.
On the podium, Doughty told audiences: “Please help us carry forward their memory, not only with tears, but with action.”
On Thursday, the Joint Standing Committee on Transportation authorized the Maine Turnpike Authority to conduct a pilot program for speed enforcement in work zones. The legislation is now headed to the House and Senate.
Despite retaliation from their employer, nurses affirm their commitment to their patients and their union
Over two years since Northern Maine Medical Center (NMMC) first formed their union and began bargaining in good faith for a first contract, nurses remain committed to the patients they serve, and to making their hospital the best place it can be for everyone. Union nurses at NMMC signed the letter they released today, which says in part:
“Over the past two years, you have no doubt heard about the conflict that has grown between the hospital and us.
We want you to know that we never asked for this fight. The initiative to organize our union was to protect ourselves and our patients, not to punish any individuals or the hospital as a whole.”
The nurses’ letter goes on to say that their immediate goals as a union include: winning safe staffing for nurses and patients, promoting transparency and accountability at NMMC, retaining our local providers and staff, and making their hospital sustainable for the long term.
Advertisement
Terry Caron, RN and member of the nurses’ bargaining team said: “Two years ago, we decided to have a voice for ourselves and our patients by forming our union. The NMMC administration could have met us halfway, but it did not. It has only fought us and tried to punish us for speaking up. But we are as committed to our goals as ever. We will never stop fighting for our patients.”
NMMC nurses were joined today by Maine Senate President Mattie Daughtry, gubernatorial candidate Troy Jackson, and U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner. They echoed the nurses’ call for NMMC CEO Jeff Zewe to stop his retaliation against the nurses and to finalize the union contract for which the nurses have been bargaining for most of the past two years.
Maine State Nurses Association is part of National Nurses Organizing Committee, representing 4,000 nurses and other caregivers from Portland to Fort Kent. NNOC is an affiliate of National Nurses United, the largest and fastest-growing labor union of registered nurses in the United States with nearly 225,000 members nationwide.
