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US Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday visited a reception center for Venezuelan migrants in Manaus and prayed for them alongside his wife, Karen.
In the house of Acolhida Santa Catarina, Pence greeted "the outside" refugees before "the devastating impact of the dictatorship in their country".
From two to four million Venezuelans, according to different estimates, they left their country in a political and economic crisis, with a hyperinflation of 13,800% (IMF), a serious shortage of money, medicines, food and other products. violence.
The vice president, who spoke to some refugee families, was moved by what they went through to escape the "Maduro (Nicols) regime" and, "again, the outside they show. "
"Each of these families wants to go home, but as one student told us," we want freedom to come back, "added Pence, saying" freedom and democracy have prevailed "in Venezuela.
The US vice president, who met Tuesday with President Michel Temer in Brasilia, reiterated the announcement of additional aid of 10 million US dollars for refugees.
Nevertheless, he congratulated Brazil and Colombia as well as other countries in the region hosting Caribbean migrants. More than one million Venezuelans have emigrated to Colombia in the last 16 months, and most have plans to stay, according to an updated official report.
Then his wife, Karen, prayed. "God, we praise you for these beautiful people" and asked for the "freedom" of the "Venezuelan people".
– Migratory wave –
The Santa Catarina Acolhida Center, administered by Critas da Manidi, the capital of Amazonas, with the support of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), has 86 Venezuelan migrants, mostly families with children.
These refugees arrived in May from Boa Vista, the capital of Roraima, on the border with Venezuela and main point of entry, as part of a Brazilian government program for the voluntary resettlement of migrants, a indicated the UNHCR.
In addition to accommodation, the center offers food, Portuguese clbades, psychological support, legal advice, vaccination, document processing and work permits, as well as support for refugees to find work.
Thousands of Venezuelans have started arriving since December 2016 in the Amazonian capital, where the situation is less precarious than in Roraima, according to the UNHCR.
Since January 2017, the federal police in Manaus has registered 7,080 requests for refuge with Venezuelans.
The authorities of Manaus "have responded quickly to the needs of Venezuelans," said Luiz Fernando Godinho, spokesman for the United Nations agency in Brazil.
According to the calculations of the Brazilian border authorities, 500 migrants enter daily, although not all of them remain. Some spend a season and return to Venezuela with money and food, while others go to other countries.
More than 32,000 Venezuelans have found refuge in Brazil and thousands of others, a temporary residence in the last three years, although the number is increasing as the crisis intensifies in the country neighbour.
In Boa Vista, it is estimated that there are between 20,000 and 30,000 Venezuelans, while in Pacaraima, a border town of Venezuela, there are about 4,000, many of whom sleep in the street.
– Bilateral cooperation –
In addition to Venezuela, Pence spoke with Temer about the situation of about 50 Brazilian children separated from their families in the migration crisis on the southern border of the United States, where more than 2,000 children, mainly Central Americans, were separated from their parents.
On Thursday, after an official stopover in Quito, the US vice president met in Guatemala with the presidents of that country and Honduras, as well as with his Salvadoran counterpart, to deal with the crisis.
Temer and Pence have addressed a number of issues, especially in space, where they already have a bilateral cooperation agreement.
Both countries resumed negotiations on US intellectual property and Brazil's sovereignty guarantees for the United States to use the Alcantara launch center in Maranho.
The base is very close to the equator, which saves up to 30% fuel in launches.
Both have also ratified bilateral transparency and social security agreements, which have already been promulgated.
Before leaving for Quito, Pence and his entourage flew over the free zone of Manaus and the Amazon rainforest.
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