Venezuelan family living ‘American Dream’ after epic journey across 11 countries and notorious jungle
My phone pings late at night. It’s a message from Gustavo Aleman, our producer in Venezuela.
“Look who made it to America!” the message says, alongside a picture of a family standing in front of a ‘Welcome to the United States of America” sign.
It is the Zambrano family from Venezuela.
Our team first met them in the Darien Gap in November 2022, while we were filming a story about the notorious jungle trek from Colombia to Panama.
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Crossing the Darien Gap in search of a new life
We filmed as they criss-crossed rivers, waded through deep pools of water and hiked up steep hills made entirely of thick mud and rock.
Michael Zambrano was carrying his then two-year-old son Lucien in a baby carrier on his chest, while his four-year-old son Jordan clung to his hand.
His wife Mariangela was seven months pregnant.
They had left Venezuela, travelled to Chile – tried to make a life there but couldn’t – so made their way through Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and then to Colombia, where they joined the trail – hoping to ultimately reach the US.
It took them five days to get through the jungle and into Panama.
Once they reached Panama they took a breather for a few days, before continuing north through Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, and then Mexico.
In Mexico City in January, Mariangela gave birth to a girl they named Ana, but because they did not have proper papers, they had to wait to get a birth certificate for their third child.
Once they received it, they applied for asylum in the US, and after nearly three months of waiting they got approval from US Customs and Border Protection to enter the US legally through Texas.
Ana was born in Mexico City in January 2023
The family had just $300 for the journey and often relied on the kindness of strangers
In the end it was a six month journey for the Zambrano family, mostly on foot, carrying everything they had in one rucksack – and with just $300 (£235) to their name.
They are now settling in to life in New York City.
“I feel everything was worth it, it was worth crossing 11 countries and four deserts with no money, just with the help of strangers, and with God’s help,” Michael told producer Gustavo Aleman in New York.
Pic: Gustavo Aleman
Pic: Gustavo Aleman
The family has been given a room at a shelter for migrants, as well as food and supplies for their children.
Eldest son Jordan has been enrolled in public school where, Michael proudly notes, he is learning English.
“The first day we took him to school we were so proud, after all we have been through,” he said while walking home from school with Jordan on his shoulders.
“This happiness will stay with me all my life.”
Michael is busking until his work permit arrives. Pic: Gustavo Aleman
Michael is waiting for his work permit to arrive, but in the meantime he earns a little money busking on the streets in the evenings – he is a singer.
He said: “I perform on the streets on the corner of a restaurant, I sing mostly Colombian music, and people are very supportive.”
He also creates content for his TikTok account, where he has more than 36,000 followers.
The Darien Gap is seen as a gateway to America for migrants from all over the world and more than 500,000 passed through in 2023, according to latest figures available.
When we said goodbye to Michael and his family – up to their knees in water and mud – just over a year ago, we wished them luck.
It’s the start of a new chapter for the family. Pic: Gustavo Aleman
However, we pointed out that rules at the US border had changed and their asylum claim couldn’t be processed at the crossing point.
Michael smiled and shook our hands.
“We will get through. The American people are nice, and they will hear our story and they will let us in. God will help them and help us,” he said, wading off into the distance with his family in tow.
They made it.
An incredible journey, but one that often doesn’t end so well for thousands of others.
An audacious Ukrainian drone attack against multiple airbases across Russia is a humiliating security breach for Vladimir Putin that will doubtless trigger a furious response.
Pro-Kremlin bloggers have described the drone assault – which Ukrainian security sources said hit more than 40 Russian warplanes – as “Russia’s Pearl Harbor” in reference to the Japanese attack against the US in 1941 that prompted Washington to enter the Second World War.
Ukraine war latest: Russia accuses Kyiv of ‘terrorist attack’
The Ukrainian operation – which used small drones smuggled into Russia, hidden in mobile sheds and launched off the back of trucks – also demonstrated how technology and imagination have transformed the battlefield, enabling Ukraine to seriously hurt its far more powerful opponent.
Moscow will have to retaliate, with speculation already appearing online about whether President Putin will again threaten the use of nuclear weapons.
“We hope that the response will be the same as the US response to the attack on their Pearl Harbor or even harsher,” military blogger Roman Alekhin wrote on his Telegram channel.
Codenamed ‘Spider’s Web’, the mission on Sunday was the culmination of one and a half years of planning, according to a security source.
In that time, Ukraine’s secret service smuggled first-person view (FPV) drones into Russia, sources with knowledge of the operation said.
Flat-pack, garden-office style sheds were also secretly transported into the country.
The drones were hidden in truck containers. Pic: SBU Security Service
The oblong sheds were then built and drones were hidden inside, before the containers were put on the back of trucks and driven to within range of their respective targets.
At a chosen time, doors on the roofs of the huts were opened remotely and the drones were flown out. Each was armed with a bomb that was flown into the airfields, with videos released by the security service that purportedly showed them blasting into Russian aircraft.
These drones were used to destroy Russian bomber aircraft. Pic: SBU Security Service
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Among the targets were Tu-95 and Tu-22 bomber aircraft that can launch cruise missiles, according to the Ukrainian side. An A-50 airborne early warning aircraft was also allegedly hit. This is a valuable platform that is used to command and control operations.
The use of such simple technology to destroy multi-million-pound aircraft will be watched with concern by governments around the world.
Suddenly, every single military base, airfield and warship will appear that little bit more vulnerable if any truck nearby could be loaded with killer drones.
Read more:
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The most immediate focus, though, will be on how Mr Putin responds.
Previous attacks by Ukraine inside Russia have triggered retaliatory strikes and increasingly threatening rhetoric from the Kremlin.
But this latest operation is one of the biggest and most significant, and comes on the eve of a new round of peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv that are meant to take place in Turkey. It is not clear if that will still happen.
US President Donald Trump has been pushing for the two sides to make peace but Russia has only escalated its war.
Ukraine clearly felt it had nothing to lose but to also go on the attack.
Two people are dead and nearly 560 people were arrested after disorder broke out in France following Paris Saint-Germain’s victory in the Champions League final, the French interior ministry has said.
The ministry added 192 people were injured and there were 692 fires, including 264 involving vehicles.
A 17-year-old boy was stabbed to death in the city of Dax during a PSG street party after Saturday night’s final in Munich, the national police service said.
The second person killed was a man who was hit by a car while riding a scooter during PSG celebrations, the interior minister’s office said.
Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez has said the man was in his 20s and although the incident is still being investigated, it appears his death was linked to the disorder.
Meanwhile, French authorities have reported that a police officer is in a coma following the clashes.
A burning bike on the Champs Elysees during the disorder. Pic: Reuters
The officer had been hit by a firecracker that emerged from a crowd of supporters in Coutances in the Manche department of northwestern France, according to reports in the country.
Initial investigations reportedly suggest the incident was accidental and the police officer was not deliberately targeted.
The perpetrator has not been identified.
A man walks past teargas during incidents after the Champions League final soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan. Pic: AP
A burning bike on the Champs Elysees during the disorder. Pic: Reuters
The interior ministry earlier said 22 security forces workers were injured during the chaos – including 18 who were injured in Paris, along with seven firefighters.
In a news conference today, Mr Nuñez said only nine of the force’s officers had been injured in the French capital.
He added that fireworks were directed at police and firefighters were attacked while responding to car fires.
There were 559 arrests across the country during the disorder, including 491 in Paris. Of those detained across the country, 320 were taken into police custody – with 254 in the French capital.
Mr Nuñez said although most people wanted to celebrate PSG’s win, some only wanted to get involved in fights with police.
He also said the force is only at “half-time” in its response because the PSG team will be celebrating their Champions League victory on the Champs Élysées later today.
Police in Paris during the disorder. Pic: Reuters
Police in Paris during the disorder. Pic: Reuters
Mr Nuñez said that the police presence and military presence in Paris will be increased on the ground for the parade.
It comes after flares and fireworks were set off in the French capital after PSG beat Inter Milan 5-0 in Munich – the biggest ever victory in a Champions League final.
Around 5,400 police were deployed across Paris after the game, with officers using tear gas and pepper spray on the Champs Élysées.
Pic: AP
Pic: AP
At the top of the Champs Élysées, a water cannon was used to protect the Place de l’Etoile, near the landmark Arc de Triomphe.
Police said a large crowd not watching the match tried to push through a barrier to make contact with officers.
Some 131 arrests were made, including 30 who broke into a shoe shop on the Champs Élysées.
Police have said a total of four shops, including a car dealership and a barbers, were targeted during the disorder in Paris.
Two cars were set alight close to Parc des Princes, police said.
PSG forward Ousmane Dembélé appealed for calm in a post-match interview with Canal+, saying: “Let’s celebrate this but not tear everything up in Paris.”
Pics: AP
After the final played at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, thousands of supporters also tried to rush the field.
Police lined up in front of the PSG end of the stadium at the final whistle, but struggled to contain the fans for several minutes when they came down from the stands following the trophy presentation.
Pics: AP
Désiré Doué, the 19-year-old who scored two goals and assisted one in the final, said after the game: “I don’t have words. But what I can say is, ‘Thank you Paris,’ we did it.”
Despite being a supporter of PSG’s rivals Olympique de Marseille, French President Emmanuel Macron also said on social media: “A glorious day for PSG!
“Bravo, we are all proud. Paris, the capital of Europe this evening.”
Mr Macron’s office said the president would receive the players at the Elysee Palace on Sunday.
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Three patients have been killed and dozens of other people were reportedly injured after a fire at a hospital in Germany.
The blaze broke out in a room in the geriatric ward of the Marienkrankenhaus early on Sunday.
It started on the ground floor and spread to the level above, with smoke affecting much of the four-storey building in the city of Hamburg.
Firefighters were alerted soon after midnight.
They said they found several patients calling for help from windows, and some people were rescued using ladders.
Pic: AP
Pic: Reuters
Three adults died and more than 30 were injured in the fire, the German news agency dpa said.
One of the injured is in a life-threatening condition, while 18 have serious injuries and 15 have minor injuries, the agency added.
Read more from Sky News:
Two dead and hundreds of arrests in France after PSG win
Britain has ‘lost control’ of its borders, says minister
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Part of the building had to be evacuated, though the wounded were mostly treated at the hospital.
Two injured people were taken to other nearby clinics.
The blaze was put out within about 20 minutes. The cause is not yet known.
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