Jerina Sykora: My motive for fleeing Venezuela was same as my grandmother’s for leaving Czechoslovakia
Venezuelan-born Jerina Sykora was named after her Czech grandmother Jiřina, who fled to the South American state in the wake of the 1948 Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia. Jerina herself fled in the other direction; among millions of people who have quit Venezuela due to its political turmoil, she and her family have resettled in Czechia under a government repatriation scheme. Their gripping story is the focus of Volver a Volver, a documentary that will get its premiere at the One World festival in Prague next week.
When and why did your family [who owned a textiles factory] leave Czechoslovakia?
“Because of the Communists. After the Second World War my grandmother lost her husband and she had three kids. And of because the political situation in Czechoslovakia at that time…
“She had a brother in Venezuela. He called her at that time and said he was going to help her with the kids.
“And at that moment Venezuela was a beautiful country, a free country, full of opportunities, and he told my grandmother, It’s time to go to Venezuela!”
Tell me more about her arrival in Venezuela. It sounds like your grandmother was in a tough situation.
“Yes. She arrived alone with three kids, I think in 1957. When she arrived in Venezuela she lived with her brother for a few months.
“She started working at a lamp shop and then at an art shop. It was very difficult, because she didn’t know the Spanish language.
“So it was very, very difficult for her but, well, she made it.”
Obviously your family this kind of “Czech” name. How Czech was your upbringing? Did you hear Czech spoken at home, for example? Did you have Czech traditions?
“Yes, we had Czech traditions. But my father never talked to us in Czech.
“We had Czech traditions, but my father never talked to us in Czech.”
“My grandma came every Sunday for lunch and to spend the day with us. My mom cooked traditional Czech food and my grandma spent all the day with us, including my uncles: my father has two siblings.
“After lunch they would go to the living room and started speaking Czech – but I didn’t understand anything [laughs]. A few words, maybe numbers, maybe nursery rhymes, something like that.
“I didn’t know why, but my father never, never talked to us in Czech.
“And yes, at that time we maintained Czech traditions and customs at home. For example, painting eggs at Easter, making the traditional cookies at Christmas.
“My mum learned to cook Czech food very, very well [laughs]. It was delicious. She made dumplings and sometimes duck.
“Also there is a Venezuelan Czech Association and my uncle is a member of it and every month we would go there and spend time and see a Czech movie.”
Why did you and your family decide you had to leave Venezuela?
“Wow [laughs]. It was the same motive that had my grandmother. Because of the political situation in Venezuela there was no democracy for us. The government started hunting students and protests were very common and hard.
“You had to run because the government, the soldiers, were coming and tried to catch you.”
“Then the power and water and basic food – it was very hard to find.
“So these factors were the reason why we took the decision to get out.”
You went on protests yourself. What kind of things did you see when you were demonstrating?
“Oh, wow. People running. A lot of shots. A lot of I don’t know how to say, lacrimógeno gas.”
Tear gas.
“You had to run because the government, the soldiers, were coming and tried to catch you. So yes, they were very, very hard moments for me and for my family.”
You say in the film you saw young people being shot down?
“Yes. Very much a shock moment. That was the last protest that I went on, because I was so scared.”
And your family were also affected by violent crime in Venezuela?
“Yes, yes. My son and my husband. I think that was the bottom, you know, that made us take that decision.
“They tried to kidnap my husband at traffic lights. And with my son, they didn’t try to kill him but to take his phone. It was not safe and that’s the one of reasons that we took the decision to get out.”
It must have been incredibly stressful to live in those circumstances?
“Yes. It’s very hard because right now my parents live there. It’s very stressful for all of us.
“We are seven siblings and all of us are out of Venezuela.”
You came to Czechia under a government repatriation programme for ethnic Czechs facing violent conflict in various parts of the world. How did you learn about that programme?
“Because of my uncle. He’s a member of this Venezuelan Czech Association.
“We don’t have a Czech embassy there. The embassy is in Bogota, Columbia, so we had to wait for a visit by the Czech consul, twice a year.
“And on one of those visits they offered us the programme.
“My uncle called and said, Jerina, I know you are looking for ways to get out, we have this programme. And he explained to me which steps I had to follow – and we did it.”
If I understand correctly, under this programme the government covers you flight tickets, puts you up in a hotel for a few months and then pays your rent for three months?
“Yes, we arrived at ministry hotel that’s especially for this programme.
“We are so grateful for the opportunity that the Czech government gave us.”
“The programme first of all helped us with the Czech papers, for my kids, so they are Czech nationals too.
“Then one of the benefits was that they reimburse what you spend on flight tickets. And they help you to get an apartment, a home, and then you have to find a job by yourself.
“That’s what happened. It’s very, very good, you know – a positive point.”
I actually wanted to ask you, how do you feel about the fact that Czechia helped your family in this way?
“Grateful that this country opened… I’m going to say it opened its heart and its arms to help us.
“Arriving here, it was very, very difficult at the beginning, because the culture, the language, the different kind of view.
“But we are so happy here in this free country. We are stable.
“So yes, we are so grateful for the opportunity that the government gave us at that time.”
In the film your family are all very positive. But still, what were the hardest things for you and your kids to get used to here?
“First of all, the language, the Czech language. Because as I told you, my father never talked to us in Czech.
“And the weather [laughs]. Venezuela has tropical weather!
“We came here at the end of August and soon we had autumn and winter. We didn’t have coats or sweaters or hats, so we had to buy them.
“And jobs. We didn’t have jobs.”
That was my next question, actually: What kind of work did you find?
“First of all we had to prepare new CVs. Because it was different in Europe and Latin America. So different NGOs here helped us to do our CVs.
“In my case I spent nine months to find a job. First of all I worked in a little ‘brigáda’ [temp job] in a food fair, kind of festivals around Prague, around Czechia.
“Then I had an opportunity to enter a factory, where I did manual labour.
“And a few months later I started at a multinational company that gave me the opportunity to work in administration.
“So that’s what I’m doing right now. I’m stable, the salary’s OK; you can see the difference from working in a factory, so you see the progress and it’s OK. Super.”
But at home your husband was a lawyer and you were a dentist?
“Yes. We can’t work in our professions. I’m a dentist, yes. My husband is a lawyer and right now he is in administration too; he’s working at a multinational company.
“One plus is that we know English, so here knowing English, in Prague, it’s a little bit easier to find a good job.
“He was a lawyer and he began here in a factory. Two or three years, maybe, he was working there.
“That was very hard because it was very far from Prague, so he had to wake very early in the morning and he came home very tired.
“He was the last of us who could find a good job [laughs]. My son was the first one, then my daughter, then me – and my husband was the last one.
“But right now we are OK.”
Is there a Venezuelan community in Czechia?
“Yes, there is. A lot of them came with the same programme as me.
“When I arrived here there were eight families in the hotel. And I think 20 or 25 have come with the programme.
“And right now I’m part of an NGO called La Casa Venezolana. We try to find these Venezuelan people and to maintain the traditions and customs and to help them to integrate into Czech society.
“There are two Venezuelan restaurants in Prague, Arepas De Lyna and Areparna, and we do a lot of different events there for the community.”
How closely do you follow what’s happening in Venezuela today? You say your parents are still there, so obviously you still have close connections.
“Yes, well, I don’t like to talk a lot about it, because that was, you know, the reason why I had to get out.
“My father is 86 years old and he said, What am I going to do there?”
“But it’s very difficult to not think about Venezuela right now.
“My parents are there and every week when I talk with them the communication, the internet, is not OK, so we have to call several times in a short period.
“The power and the water are not OK right now… But I don’t know, I don’t know.”
Did your parents also consider leaving and coming here?
“My father is 86 years old and he said, What am I going to do there? I don’t want to disturb you, I don’t have my own home.
“So I understand his position, and my mother’s position, because right now my father is working; he has very, very good health and he’s still working.
“So he has his comfort zone there. Their siblings are alive and they are living there, in Venezuela.
“But the second and third generations are out of Venezeula, so for them it’s very difficult too. Because they have to travel each year, or when they can, to visit their sons and their daughters.”
And you can’t visit them, I guess?
“No, no. Right now it’s not safe for us. And there’s no Venezuelan embassy here – we have to travel to Berlin.
“I don’t have a passport right now, so it’s not possible to go there now.”
Did you lose your Venezuelan passports when you joined the Czech programme?
“No, they expired during our time here. But it’s very expensive to get a new one. I have to organise it and go to Berlin and make the appointments online – and the Venezuelan system doesn’t work all the time.
“It’s not easy to get a new passport. So the passport that I have is a Czech passport, because I’m a Czech citizen and I’m proud of that!”
I know it’s a tough question, but do you have any hope for the future? Do you see any light on the horizon?
“Well, my future, I don’t know. Because my present is here at this moment.
“But I’m very, very happy living here. Because I hope the freedom and the security and this kind of quality of life is going to be maintained over the years.
“So right now the important thing is that my family is still together, still strong.
“My daughter is not here with us [laughs], but we see her often.”
She’s living in Spain?
“Yes, she’s living in Spain and we try to see each other often.
“But I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future.”
