Venezuela: about 3m political and economic crisis since 2015, UN says | World news


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The exodus of Venezuelans has been dramatically expanding, reaching a total of about 3 million since 2015, the United Nations has announced.

The new figures show that in the country, driven by violence, hyperinflation and shortages of food and medicines.

Six months ago, said William Spindler of the UN high commissioner for refugees (UNHCR), which appealed for greater international efforts to ease the strain on Venezuela's neighbors.

Oil-rich Venezuela has sunk into crisis under its socialist president, Nicolás Maduro, who has struggled to kidney in hyperinflation and clamped down on political opponents.

A data in September showed 2.6 million had fled to neighboring countries, but regional governments are struggling to cope with the humanitarian and political mass migration in Latin American history.

"The main increases continue to be reported in Colombia and Peru," Spindler said.

Colombia is sheltering 1 million Venezuelans. About 3,000 more arrives each day, and the Bogota government says 4 million could be living there by 2021, costing it nearly $ 9bn.

About 300 refugees, who arrived with nothing beyond what they could carry, have made camp outside the bus terminal in Bogotá, Colombia's capital.

Josmelis Lozada, 21, fled two months ago with her husband and six-month-old daughter.

"When you can not find food, when your daughter could get sick at any time, that's when you know you have to leave," Lozada said, clutching her baby to her breast. "But here we have no work, we have nothing to do, so we have to go back."

Once a waitress in an upmarket restaurant in Valencia, Venezuela's third largest city.

Paola Rondón, a 17-year-old student from Maracay, has northern Venezuelan city, traveled to Colombia with a boyfriend to Cucuta, a city on the Colombian side of the border.

Without a money for the rest of the journey, they walked the remaining 345 miles to Bogota in hope of finding work. They currently live in a makeshift tent, sleeping on a camping mattress that donated locals.

"That was a long, tiring walk, "she said. "One day I hope to go back to my studies but it is hard to see things getting better there."

Maduro has dismissed A migration figures as "fake news" meant to prevent foreign intervention in Venezuela's affairs.

"Maduro only cares about himself," said Augustín Pérez, a 51-year-old from Caracas, now camping in Bogotá with his wife and four children. "He does not care about the people with nothing to eat … while his cronies all get fat."

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and UNHCR said the exodus was straining several neighboring countries, Colombia.

"Countries in the United States and the Caribbean have continued to maintain open-door policy," said Eduardo Stein, UNHCR-IOM joint special representative for refugees and migrants from Venezuela. "However, their reception capacity is severely strained, requiring a more robust and immediate response from the international community."

After Colombia, Peru has received the next-largest number of Venezuelans with over 500,000. Ecuador has over 220,000, Argentina 130,000, Chile over 100,000, Panama 94,000 and Brazil 85,000.

The response of Latin American countries to the migration crisis marks a stark difference to the Trump administration's efforts to demonize a caravan of 7,000 migrants, mostly from Honduras, currently making its way through Mexico towards the United States' southern border, where they plan to seek asylum.

Adam Isacson, an analyst at the Washington Office on Latin America, a thinktank, tweeted: "An expert I talked to today pointed out: How is it that Colombia is receiving 5,000 Venezuelans every day, but the US government is panicked by 7,000 Central Americans?"

Regional government officials are to meet in Quito in Ecuador from 22-23 November to coordinate humanitarian efforts.

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