VENEZUELA
Emergency Exit
The number of Venezuelans fleeing starvation and spiking crime – in the single largest economic collapse outside of war in almost half a century – is nearing five million, alarming officials who say the refugee influx is straining neighbors’ resources to a breaking point, Reuters reported.
“This is the most severe and fastest-growing refugee migrant crisis in Latin American history, at least recent history,” said Walter Stevens, EU ambassador to the UN in Geneva. “There are estimates also that it could further increase if the situation does not change…”
Formerly wealthy, Venezuela saw a socioeconomic and political crisis begin during President Hugo Chávez’s leadership, one that has escalated under his successor, Nicolás Maduro. The economy collapsed into hyperinflation and mass unemployment, while people struggle with shortages of food and medicines, starvation, disease and crime.
Almost a sixth of the country’s population has fled.
Meanwhile, Venezuela’s neighbors are buckling under the strain of coping with hundreds of thousands of refugees, particularly Colombia and Peru, the top two destinations, followed by Chile and Ecuador, which are currently experiencing their own political and socio-economic turmoil.
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