'It was all for nothing' Venezuelans turned away from US brace for perilous trek home

The word they use is "purgatory". In the Panamanian port village of Miramar, people wait in abandoned houses and makeshift tents, the air heavy with unease. Few know how they will pay for the passage on a crowded boat to their next destination, 10 hours south. All are weary and despondent.

- Harriet Barber

"I was hoping for a better future, but it was all for nothing," said Gabriela, 26, from Venezuela. "I don't know what I will do."

Gabriela is one of thousands who, after months heading north to the US - across the perilous Darién Gap, through gang-controlled territories and treacherous terrain - are now retracing their steps. More than 14,000 people, mainly Venezuelans, have turned south since Donald Trump closed the borders and began his immigration crackdown, according to a report published last week.

The "reverse flow" represents an abrupt change in one of the biggest population displacements in modern history.

A former government employee, Gabriela left her home after Nicolás Maduro claimed victory in last year's widely disputed elections. She is one of about 8 million people to have fled since 2017, and planned to join her brothers and father in the US. "It felt like a bleak future back home," she said. "I didn't want to live in a dictatorship."

With four family members and her daughter, 11, who together paid about $20,000 (£15,000) to smugglers, she made it to Mexico, where she waited for her visa appointment. It was scheduled for 3 February but on 20 January, the day of Trump's inauguration, it was cancelled. "None of us got in," she said.