Maduro’s ambassador to Chile stumbles: he offered a plane for the return of Venezuelans camping in Iquique, but no one agreed to return

Complete failure resulted in “Return to the Fatherland Plan” announced by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro for its citizens affected after an anti-migrant march that ended in the burning of their property in Chile.

On Saturday September 25, it was held in the city of Iquique, in northern Chile, a march under the slogan “Non + Migrants” against Venezuelan citizens who have come in droves to this city escape the economic, health and political crisis affecting Venezuela.

About 5,000 people marched with Chilean flags and xenophobic cries denouncing the lack of concern of the government of President Sebastián Piñera regarding the arrival of Venezuelan migrants in Iquique, which have collapsed beaches and places with makeshift camps due to the lack of shelters.

This call ended with the burning of a migrant camp and with multiple clashes between Iquiqueños and Venezuelans who have toured the world.

It is because of this situation that the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, ordered to relaunch the “Return to the Fatherland Plan” established in 2018, whose objective is to repatriate Venezuelan citizens who escaped the consequences of the regime. According to the Venezuelan government, 2,462 people have left Chile to return to their country of origin since the start of this program.

The mission to try to convince Venezuelan migrants fell on the Venezuelan ambassador to Chile, Arévalo Méndez, who traveled to Iquique and then settled in makeshift camps. of his compatriots to offer a repatriation trip. “We propose a return to Venezuela, when? It is possible in groups this week. If we gather 50 here in Iquique who want to leave, the plane will come and get them here “Arevalo said in an audio released by Chilean media outlet T13.

However, what the Venezuelan ambassador did not expect was the reaction of his compatriots, who repeatedly refused to accept the authority’s proposal return to Venezuela.

“We don’t want to know anything about Venezuela until we have something”, expressed the Venezuelan migrants in Arévalo. “The minimum wage in Venezuela is $ 3 and a bucket of eggs” and “take this plane and come home alone”, were some responses the authority received.

Faced with the refusal of migrants to return to Venezuela the ambassador defended himself by declaring that “these are consequences of the blockade, in 2015 the situation was different ”. The authority added that the government of Venezuela intends to collaborate to solve the migratory problem suffered by Chile thanks to the repatriation of Venezuelan citizens with the flights of the national airline Conviasa. For those who wish to avail themselves of it, they must have Venezuelan nationality and express their voluntary desire to return to their country of origin.

Situation of Venezuelans in the world

According to the Joint Special Representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Eduardo Stein, there are “5.7 million Venezuelan migrants and refugees in the world and 4.6 million in Latin America and the Caribbean ”.

In the event of an asylum application issued “They are less than 800 thousand, and recognized as refugees until March 2021 are 144 thousand”, which means that “the rest of the population considers themselves obliged to migrate, but not necessarily in the category of refugees, but rather that what they want are spaces to take root”.

The Jesuit Migrant Service (SJM) of Chile identified more than 23,000 illegal entries from January to June this year into the country. Of this number, 17,914 are Venezuelan citizens, 3,043 Bolivians, 949 Colombians and 800 Haitians. In 2020, the total underground income was 16,484.

The SJM has identified that since 2010, a total of 68,435 people have entered Chile illegally, mainly Venezuelans and Haitians who come from countries whose governments are in crisis. Many of these people walked from their home territories to Chile, support inclement weather and the treatment of gangs dedicated to human trafficking.

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