How we were going to get there and La Cabuya

Abstract

This text brings together chapters eight and nine of the book “Yo tuve un sueño: el viaje de los niños centroamericanos a Estados Unidos”. The book presents, using fictional elements, ten testimonies from minors who immigrated from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador to the USA, collected In 2016. The translated chapter narrates the journey of brothers Santiago and Daniel (identified by pseudonyms) from El Salvador, their native country, crossing Guatemala and Mexico by land until reaching the US border, where they surrendered to immigration police Intending to reunite with their mother, who lived In New York. They made the journey when they were fifteen and ten years old, accompanied by coyotes. Another narrates the moment when thirteen-year-old Kayla from Honduras crosses a river with her cousin and her cousin’s eight-month-old daughter, with the help of other migrants. The three girls traveled by themselves. Published In Spain, the book is unpublished In Portuguese.

Original version: VILLALOBOS, Juan Pablo. Yo tuve um sueño: el viaje de los niños centroamericanos a Estados Unidos. Barcelona: Anagrama, 2018. p. 81-103.

Translation: Andreia Sanchez Moroni

Submission: Mar 15, 2026 ⊶ Accepted: May 26, 2026