A mother says she is ‘deeply concerned’ about her daughter who is at risk of becoming stuck in a country undergoing serious political turmoil.
Judith Tregartha-Clegg is worried about 33-year-old Jane Rojas, who is currently visiting family in Venezuela, where brutal violence has erupted during the dictatorship of president Nicolas Maduro.
Jane, a wedding planner, is due to travel home on Sunday, September 3 but Judith, 59, is extremely worried the turbulent political situation may prevent her daughter from returning.
She said: “It’s a very unsettled country at the moment, there are political repressions and it’s got worse while she’s been away.
“The circumstances are even changing as we speak.
“A few airlines have been cancelling flights out of Caracas because of the trouble and some just won’t fly there anymore.”
Judith, a civil servant who lives on Woodfield Avenue, Accrington, says Jane left the town for Venezuela in May and travelled to the small industrial town on Anaco in the north of the country – which is where she and her two brothers Richard, 28, and Stuart, 22, were born.
The town is around five hours drive from the capital Caracas and Judith explained that Jane has been advised not to travel at night because it is too dangerous.
She said: “She’s with trusted family and friends – but people have to be very careful to drive early in the morning and avoid driving at night time.
“The airport is around 15km from Caracas so she doesn’t need to enter the city, but I just hope the customs officials or military that control the airport don’t play any games with her.”
Despite the danger, Judith says she understands why her daughter wanted to visit the country.
She said: “Of course I understand why she’d go – she was born there, spent most of her childhood there and has roots and family there. She also has the memory of her father, who was from Anaco.”
Judith lived in the country for 20 years.
She returned in 2000 after her husband - Jane’s father - passed away.
As a precaution, Judith has been in contact with Hyndburn MP, Graham Jones, who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on Venezuela.
