Fears of Venezuelan mass exodus increase with election crisis fallout
President Nicolás Maduro’s contested claim of victory in last month’s election not only threw Venezuela into uncertainty but also spread anxiety from neighboring Colombia to faraway Chile as the region braced for a new migration surge.
LIMA, Peru — President Nicolás Maduro’s contested claim of victory in last month’s election not only threw Venezuela into uncertainty but also spread anxiety from neighboring Colombia to faraway Chile as the region braced for a new migration surge.
Over the past decade since Maduro became president, the United Nations estimates that a staggering 7.7 million Venezuelans have fled as the economy collapsed, sneaking across porous borders and crowding into nearby countries that increasingly fear they cannot accommodate another mass exodus.
Now, as the crisis over Maduro’s widely disputed reelection raises the specter of deeper global isolation in Caracas, pollsters, politicians and members of the diaspora warn that more Venezuelans are packing their bags.
“There were millions of Venezuelans who expected a political change in the country and who are now frustrated,” said Jesus Seguias, who leads regional pollster Datincorp. “They’re now caught in uncertainty, deciding whether to leave their country and join relatives who have already left.”
Along with the millions of Venezuelans who warily watched Maduro’s loyalists in the electoral council declare his victory were throngs of listless workers in the biggest open-air apparel market in Peru, which trails Colombia as the main destination for Venezuelan migrants.
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