Much more than the protests of 2014 and 2017, or the allegations made by human rights organizations, it was the image of the migrants leaving Venezuela that challenged the international support for 21srt Century Socialism, with its epicenter in Caracas. from progressives around the world. The arrival of thousands of migrants from the most vulnerable areas of Venezuela to different Latin American cities, fleeing the Bolivarian ‘paradise’ and walking towards countries where they had nothing, in the most precarious conditions imaginable, destroyed the image that had cost Chavism so much to create. It was from that moment on that ears that had refused to listen to accusations of abuses finally began to hear.
Throughout, the official response was to deny that there was migration from Venezuela. Figures of the numbers of migrants were invented and the government went through the pretence of asked for international help.
In October 2017, precisely as more and more poor Venezuelans were crossing the border, the de facto government's Ombudsman, Alfredo Ruiz, said: "It is not true that Venezuela is a country of emigrants. Venezuela is still a country of immigration (...), the flow of people entering is greater than the people leaving".
To outdo himself, the former director of the Justice and Peace Support Network tried to suggest that the few who left were from the privileged classes, trivialising their reasons for leaving, claiming their reasons were frivolous: “if I can’t go to a club, or use my social networks to get a job, I lose all hope” ...”
Host countries have not taken all necessary and desirable protection measures to guarantee the human rights of Venezuelan migrants. While several of them condemned the Venezuelan dictatorship, in practice they began to restrict the migratory flow of those who were fleeing from it.
In an article published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Dany Bahar and Meagan Dooley state that the magnitude of the crisis has not had been matched by the financial resources needed in recipient countries need to address it: "In response to the Syrian crisis, for example, the international community mobilized vast sums of money: $7.4 billion in refugee response efforts in the first four years. Funding for the Venezuelan crisis has not kept pace: 4 years into the crisis, the international community has donated only $580 million. In per capita terms, this translates into $1,500 per Syrian refugee and $125 per Venezuelan refugee.
Finally, the situation of Venezuelan migrants has not been on the agenda of the opposition in the National Assembly, which is leading the efforts for a transition to democracy, since doing so would involve straining relations with those countries that recognize Juan Guaidó as President. Although Venezuelan aid associations have multiplied in number and NGOs are increasingly supporting them, those who have left Venezuela continue, in silence, to rely on their own luck.
Comments
We encourage anyone to comment, please consult the oD commenting guidelines if you have any questions.