A Venezuelan Exodus?/¿Un éxodo venezolano?

In recent months, Venezuelan migrants have occupied a prominent role in the media and international political agenda as they travel by land, sea, and air in search of better living conditions. Some make risky walks of 16 hours a day along routes that exceed 2000 miles; many of them sleep on the streets; others risk their lives at sea or even as stowaways trying to sneak into an airplane. In response, Colombia is asking for economic aid to assist them, Peru has declared a health emergency at the border, and Brazil is mobilizing its troops. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has called the ongoing Venezuelan migration crisis unprecedented in Latin America. There has been much speculation about this phenomenon. But what is its actual magnitude, and who is migrating? How much of the news coverage is propaganda, and how much reflects reality? Is it actually a new phenomenon? What are the political and economic motivations and processes underlying these events? In this piece, I attempt to answer some of these questions.. More…