In the Midst of Winter

The “coyote” who led Evelyn and the other migrants to cross into Mexico and then the U.S. was named Berto Cabrera; he came highly recommended. Cabrera counted himself as a “responsible person” (142) who had never lost any of charges on the journey.

When Evelyn set off with Cabrera to Mexico, she was in the company of other migrants that included four men and a woman, who went by the name Maria Ines, and her infant child. Evelyn was given the name Pilar Saravia and new identification documents. Cabrera advised Evelyn to assume the identity of a mute student at a school for the death and to pretend that he was her uncle to avoid suspicion.

While the initial steps of the journey went smoothly, Maria Ines’s infant became ill and needed to be taken to the hospital. Cabrera wanted to leave Maria Ines behind to continue the journey with everyone else and return for her later. However, the group refused to leave without Maria Ines, so Cabrera reluctantly agreed to stay. When the baby recovered, Maria Ines decided that it was too dangerous to travel with an infant, so she opted to return to Guatemala.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group embarked on their journey to the U.