Venezuelan oil worker packs up for Kurdistan Region, better life
Dozens of oil workers in Venezuela have abandoned poverty and low wages. They flee their country for jobs in far-flung places like Kuwait, Angola and Chile.
Nieves Ribullen is sick of struggling to get by as his country falls apart. He is betting it all on the far-away Kurdistan Region to give his family a better life.
He’ll leave his wife and three children behind. He'll soon ship out to Kurdistan Region, where he expects to earn $4,500 a month.
"I can't get there (Kurdistan Region) by plane, because of the situation that the country is going through. The facilities of the Kurdistan airport have been taken over by rebels, because of the problem they have.
That is a country that is at war, they are going through many problems. Then, the danger to which we submit ourselves to, we have to endure. Fourteen hours of travel in a vehicle, to be able to work in a country where we do not know anyone, we do not speak the language, but the situation has led us to go through that kind of danger. So, of course it is hard for me to be away from my family, it is hard for me to be away from my children and my wife, but I am practically forced to do so because of the situation that we are living in." Ribullen says.
AP video