The Venezuelan Migrant Crisis

In the late 1990’s, the socialist Hugo Chavez was elected as president of Venezuela. With his reign lasting for the next 15 years, Chavez began to nationalize Venezuela’s booming oil industry to finance large amounts of social spending. With his initiatives, Chavez significantly increased the quality of life in Venezuela and brought down poverty rates. However, the economy became very dependent on the price of oil. While Chavez made attempts to diversify, they were not very successful. In 2013, when Chavez died, his handpicked successor Nicolas Maduro won and took office, quickly consolidating power for himself. As oil prices declined and the economy worsened, Maduro ruthlessly quelled civil unrest and began to rule by decree, creating his own regime. These actions largely prevented lots of foreign aid from coming to Venezuela, with many countries including the United States beginning sanctions and an oil embargo on the government. These events consequently spurred an intense social and economic collapse in Venezuela, creating millions of refugees and burdening the responsibility of caring for them on neighboring countries. 

In the year 2024, there are around 7.7 million displaced Venezuelans around the world. With no signs of slowing migration, the diaspora is set to grow in the coming years. Various human rights organizations such as the UNHCR (United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights) have also expressed concern about these refugees crossing the harrowing Darien Gap, the dense and lawless rainforest located in between Colombia and Panama, in order to reach the United States. Reports describe sexual violence, trafficking, murder and robbery along the 10-day trip to cross the gap, with these actions typically being performed by organized crime groups such as drug cartels. The number of migrants crossing the Darien Gap has significantly increased since Covid, where rising xenophobia and lack of employment drove many Venezuelans to leave neighboring countries such as Ecuador and Colombia. Initially, the influx of migrants into these border countries occurred under a greater economy, and the charitability of Ecuador and Colombia was high. However, once factors like the pandemic began to stress these economies, many Venezuelans living on the brink of poverty were forced to attempt the journey north. 

It is estimated that there are around 7 million Venezuelans seeking asylum throughout Latin America, and around 5 million of them are in need of humanitarian assistance. However, with these nations also dealing with issues such as income inequality and structural problems spurred by the pandemic and its economic recession, states are finding it very hard to accommodate the migrants.  During their trip through the Darien Gap, Venezuelans will also encounter Afghans, Haitians and Africans searching for a better life, as groups from around the world collect in Colombia to begin the trek northward. In recent years, the number of Venezuelans crossing the gap has surged to the hundreds of thousands. Past the gap, however, still lies a path of dangerous exploitation and extortion throughout Central America on the way to the United States. Reports state that as many 6 in every 10 women are raped along the journey, and as many as 20,000 migrants are kidnapped yearly for ransom. This fate will be further exacerbated in the future as the climate crisis increases and more individuals are forced from their homes in Latin America in search of a cooler life up north. North American countries such as Mexico and the United States have attempted to alleviate the burden migrants have through economic initiatives, but the problem still remains. The harsh reality is that many migrants are fleeing not only economic catastrophes, but those of violence as well. For the past few years, Mexico and the US have cooperated on the “Remain in Mexico” policy, a system where migrants detained at the US border are sent to stay in Mexico until they can be processed into the United States. This system seems logical, but it forces migrants with often no familial connections or resources to stay in violent Mexican cities rife with extortion, trafficking, and gang violence. While there does not seem to be a clear or tangible way to a solution, any path taken must include helping to stop the problem at the root, and solving these tough issues in these migrants' home nations. 

In Venezuela, there is little hope for the future economically. Every aspect of foreign investment has left the country, and the lack of free elections has brought harsh sanctions on the economy. From a social perspective, however, some things seem to be changing. When Maduro ran for a second term in 2018, he disqualified all other opposition candidates in order to win. In response to this, Western organizations like the EU and the United States placed more sanctions on the country, pledging to remove them once free and fair elections were brought to the people. Venezuela just had their election this year, but it was not without immense tension. Grassroots leader Maria Machado led rallies drawing thousands all around the country, and won the opposition’s primary to face Maduro in this year’s election. That is, until she got barred from the race under dubious circumstances. Everywhere that Machado went, the regime cracked down. During her political campaign across Venezuela, almost every restaurant she ate in or hotel she stayed in was closed by the authorities as a result of her being there. In one instance, a mom-and-pop empanada stand in a small village was shut down after Machado was there for mere minutes. The current regime did everything they can to try and stop her, but they had to tow a line in order to have the sanctions lifted. This is what gave the opposition hope. Maduro was forced to either have a free and fair election and lose, or to subject his people to at least another 6 years of economic disaster. While those in opposition to Maduro were not allowed to vote for Machado, she paraded around another candidate for the nation to vote for: Edmundo Urrutia, a 74 year old politician and former diplomat.  

The election was held on July 28, and the Venezuelan Electoral Authority has declared the winner to be Maduro with 51% of the vote. While this result was endorsed by Russia and China, Western countries and neighbors in Latin America have expressed skepticism. Along with these nations, the opposition party in Venezuela has stated that they possess copies of the voting tallies which show them winning by almost 4 million votes. It is worth noting that when asked, the Venezuelan Electoral Authority has not produced the voting tallies. On August 1, the U.S. State Department congratulated Edmundo Urrutia with his election win, solidifying the U.S. viewpoint that the election was rigged. Due to the fact that the United States and other Western nations have refuted Maduro’s claims to power, it is safe to say that their heavy economic sanctions will remain on and continue to fester in Venezuela.