Captions

Luis Miguel Arias, 27, a Venezuelan, rests exhausted with his 4-year-old daughter Melissa Arias during the second day of hiking across the Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama. The jungle crossing can take 10 to 12 days. September 2022.

1. Luis Miguel Arias, 27, a Venezuelan, rests exhausted with his 4-year-old daughter Melissa Arias during the second day of hiking across the Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama. The jungle crossing can take 10 to 12 days. September 2022.

This year, an unprecedented 200,000 people have crossed the rugged jungle between South and Central America known as the Darien Gap, almost twenty times the average of a few years ago. The vast majority are Venezuelans. September 2022.

2. This year, an unprecedented 200,000 people have crossed the rugged jungle between South and Central America known as the Darien Gap, almost twenty times the average of a few years ago. The vast majority are Venezuelans. September 2022.

$Yohana Sierra lost her grip on a guide rope and fell down a muddy hill. Yohana was pregnant when she decided to cross the Darien Gap, although she suffered no fractures during her fall, the next day after the fall she woke up bleeding, probably having lost her baby. September 2022.$

3. Yohana Sierra lost her grip on a guide rope and fell down a muddy hill. Yohana was pregnant when she decided to cross the Darien Gap, although she suffered no fractures during her fall, the next day after the fall she woke up bleeding, probably having lost her baby. September 2022.

At least 39 people have died on the route this year, according to Panama's police, although authorities acknowledge that the real number is probably higher. Many people are reported missing and never found. September 2022.

4. At least 39 people have died on the route this year, according to Panama's police, although authorities acknowledge that the real number is probably higher. Many people are reported missing and never found. September 2022.

A man kisses his baby, just a few months old, during a break in a creek on the road in the Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama. Forty thousand minors have crossed the jungle so far this year, many of them babies. Like tens of thousands of Venezuelans, they cross this wild and roadless route believing they will reach the United States as their friends and neighbors have done weeks before. September 2022.

5. A man kisses his baby, just a few months old, during a break in a creek on the road in the Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama. Forty thousand minors have crossed the jungle so far this year, many of them babies. Like tens of thousands of Venezuelans, they cross this wild and roadless route believing they will reach the United States as their friends and neighbors have done weeks before. September 2022.

Hamleisy, Hamletsky, and Adriannys Ortega, ages 15, 13, and 8, lost their mother to breast cancer in 2017, at a time when Venezuela's healthcare system virtually collapsed. Their father, Hamlet Ortega, a former Ford Motors employee, blames her death on the government. Jheymmi Jennifer Bastidas tends to the wounds on Hamleisy Ortega's feet, due to several days of walking in mud and water while crossing the Darien Gap with her father and sisters. October 2022.

6. Hamleisy, Hamletsky, and Adriannys Ortega, ages 15, 13, and 8, lost their mother to breast cancer in 2017, at a time when Venezuela's healthcare system virtually collapsed. Their father, Hamlet Ortega, a former Ford Motors employee, blames her death on the government. Jheymmi Jennifer Bastidas tends to the wounds on Hamleisy Ortega's feet, due to several days of walking in mud and water while crossing the Darien Gap with her father and sisters. October 2022.

A group of migrants stops on a hill while crossing the Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama. In dozens of interviews over several days traveling the route, it became clear that a combination of desperation, the enduring lure of the American dream, and misleading social media posts are creating a humanitarian crisis the likes of which the Darien has never seen before. September 2022.

7. A group of migrants stops on a hill while crossing the Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama. In dozens of interviews over several days traveling the route, it became clear that a combination of desperation, the enduring lure of the American dream, and misleading social media posts are creating a humanitarian crisis the likes of which the Darien has never seen before. September 2022.

A man takes the last sip of water from a bottle covered in mud. Migrants leaving from Capurganá in Colombia try to bring food and water with them for the journey. However, after several days of trekking through the jungle and as they advance along the way, food supplies become scarce. October 2022.

8. A man takes the last sip of water from a bottle covered in mud. Migrants leaving from Capurganá in Colombia try to bring food and water with them for the journey. However, after several days of trekking through the jungle and as they advance along the way, food supplies become scarce. October 2022.

A family crosses the Tacartí River with their children on their backs. Several deaths in the area have been caused by rising rivers that sweep people away and cause them to drown. In the Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama, 2022.

9. A family crosses the Tacartí River with their children on their backs. Several deaths in the area have been caused by rising rivers that sweep people away and cause them to drown. In the Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama, 2022.

Sebastián Colmenares, 8, tearfully listens to the speech of local leader Juan Tekia in the Embera community of El Abuelo on the banks of the Tacartí River. There, the route they will take to reach the Migrant Reception Station in Panama is explained to them, two more days' journey from this place. This is the first village after walking about 10 days in the jungle, behind him, his brother Juan Colmenares, 10 years old, and his mother Enlgymar Galinde. October 2022.

10. Sebastián Colmenares, 8, tearfully listens to the speech of local leader Juan Tekia in the Embera community of El Abuelo on the banks of the Tacartí River. There, the route they will take to reach the Migrant Reception Station in Panama is explained to them, two more days' journey from this place. This is the first village after walking about 10 days in the jungle, behind him, his brother Juan Colmenares, 10 years old, and his mother Enlgymar Galinde. October 2022.

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Finalist 2022

Federico Ríos

Migrants crossing the Darien Gap

Presentation

This year, an unprecedented 200,000 people have crossed the rugged jungle between South and Central America known as the Darien Gap, almost twenty times the average of a few years ago. For decades, the Darien Gap was considered so dangerous that few dared to cross it. From 2010 to 2020, the annual average number of crossings was just under 11,000 according to Panamanian authorities.

Thousands of migrants, mostly Venezuelans, attempt to cross the Darien, a jungle pass between South and Central America, to reach the United States. They have left everything behind to travel in search of the American dream. Venezuela has become a dysfunctional country that generates a massive exodus of people seeking to feed their families. Since 2015, more than 7 million Venezuelans have left the country, according to the United Nations, mostly bound for other South American countries. The Venezuelan exodus is one of the largest in the world, roughly equal to those caused by the wars in Ukraine and Syria.

Biography

A regular contributor to The New York Times, he has worked for publications around the world such as National Geographic, Stern, Geo, Paris Match, or Leica Magazine with documentary photography projects where social and environmental issues are the protagonists. His photographs have been recognized by prestigious international competitions such as the Hansel-Mieth Preiss Award in 2019; the First Prize POY Latam News Series, the Jury Prize at Days Japan, International Photojournalism Award, the Portfolio Review New York Times in 2017; and Eddie Adams Workshop XXVII in New York (2014). He has published two photography books: La ruta del cóndor in 2012 under the publishing imprints of Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano and Universidad de Cladas and Fiestas de San Pacho, Quibdó with the photography collective Mas UNO in 2013.

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