FEATURE THOUGH THEIR FUTURE REMAINS UNCERTAIN, MARIA AND JUAN’S LOVE AND COMMITMENT TO ONE ANOTHER REMAIN UNSHAKEN. | PHOTO BY GILES CLASEN LOVE ON THE RUN STORY BY GILES CLASEN MARIA AND JUAN’S life together began in a shrimp processing facility in Venezuela, where they worked long hours to support themselves. “We peeled and sorted shrimp until the early hours of the morning,” Maria said. “It wasn’t much, it was stinky, but we made it work because we had each other.” Their bond, forged in the face of poverty, political turmoil, and violence, carried them through unimaginable challenges that brought them to the United States. Juan and Maria asked that their real names be withheld for safety reasons under the current political climate. Juan joined the Venezuelan special forces at a young age because the military was the best opportunity for poor Venezuelans with little education. He retired from the military because he was being ordered to violently subdue those in opposition to President Nicolás Maduro. “When I joined the army, it was to defend my country,” Juan said. “But after the death of President Hugo Chávez, the military was turned against its own people. I couldn’t reconcile my oath with what I was being asked to do — repress unarmed civilians. I left the armed forces because my conscience wouldn’t allow me to stay.” Juan eventually joined the protests because he felt there was nothing to lose. He saw his Indigenous Wayuu community under attack by government forces and felt he had to act. During a peaceful 2016 demonstration, Juan was captured by colectivos, armed groups loyal to the Maduro regime that kidnap, torture, and kill opposition. “They beat me, and one of them grabbed me and hit my back with a baseball bat, causing a fracture and compression in the spinal cord. I was left for dead, lying on the street,” Juan said. Doctors Without Borders saved Juan, but he will use a wheelchair for the rest of his life and is unable to move his left foot. Colectivos pursued Juan and threatened to kill any friends or family caught supporting him. “Leaving Venezuela wasn’t planned. [Maria] was threatened with death, she was pregnant, and the few things we had, we had to leave them,” Juan said. “We left for Colombia because it was the only country that was giving us security.” Eventually, political tides changed in Columbia making it unsafe for Juan, Maria, and their three children. They made the hard decision to travel to the United States. “We did not want to leave Columbia. We were happy there,” Maria said. “But it wasn’t safe. We had no choice.” The two saved money for six months to prepare for the trip. They were afraid they would die during the journey. It seemed impossible for a disabled man in a wheelchair, his wife, and their three young children to cross the dangerous Darién Gap. They explored every other option but felt that their only 6 DENVER VOICE February 2025
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