The Venezuelan diaspora refers to Venezuelan citizens living outside Venezuela. In times of economic and political crisis since the 2010s, Venezuelans have often fled to other countries in the Americas and beyond to establish a more sustainable life.
The first settlers of the Antilles were a foraging people who arrived some 6,000 or 7,000 years ago set out in canoes from the northeastern coast of actual Venezuela. A second wave of pottery-making farmers starting some 2,500 years ago and island-hopped across the Caribbean. This groups called saladoids, who are related to today's Arawak-speaking peoples came from actual Venezuela,they supplanted the earlier foraging inhabitants—presumably through disease or violence—as they settled new islands. A third wave [33] after 250 CE, called the barrancoid people settled in the Antilles after migrating up the Orinoco River toward the sea. [34] [ page needed ] A fourth wave the Caribs are commonly believed to have migrated from the Orinoco River area in Venezuela to settle in the Caribbean islands about 1200 CE, but an analysis of ancient DNA suggests that the Caribs had a common origin with contemporary groups in the Greater and Lesser Antilles. [35]
After the fall of the First Republic, in 1812 Simón Bolívar and several republican leaders were forced to left the country to Antilles and to New Granada.
The 1814 Caracas Exodus (Spanish : Éxodo caraqueño de 1814) or Emigration to the East (Spanish : Emigración a Oriente) occurred during the Venezuelan War of Independence, when Venezuelan Patriots and thousands of civilians fled from the capital Caracas towards the East of the country, after the defeat in the Second Battle of La Puerta on 15 June 1814.
News about the approach of José Tomás Boves and his infamous royalist troops caused panic amongst the population in Caracas, so on 7 July 1814, more than 20,000 people emigrated to the East of the country, along with Simon Bolívar and his remaining Patriot troops. Many thousands perished. [36] Although a large number of people followed Bolívar on the long journey, another group, especially the most politically committed, sought refuge in the Antilles or New Granada, while a third group gave up the march and returned to Caracas to place themselves under the protection of Archbishop Coll y Prat. After the fall of the Second Republic, Bolívar fled again to New Granada and later to Jamaica and Haiti. In this country he would meet several exiled republican leaders and obtain significant support from the ruler of southern Haiti, Alexandre Pétion. [37]
After the battle of Carabobo, Bolívar passed a law of expulsion of the Spanish on September 18, 1821. All Spaniards of peninsular or insular origin who did not prove that they had been part of the independent movement would be forcibly removed from the country. In Puerto Cabello, about 2,000 Spanish civilians took refuge in the fortress of San Felipe whose garrison resisted the siege until 1823. That place was the last refuge of a territory that had been Hispanic since the time of Christopher Columbus. The capitulation of the fortress ended with only 400 surviving soldiers. The main destination for these expelled were the Spanish Caribbean islands, especially Cuba and Puerto Rico, where 3,555 refugees arrived.
In 1827, a group of Jews moved from Curaçao and settled in Coro, Venezuela. [38] In 1855, rioting in the area forced the entire Jewish population, 168 individuals, back to Curaçao. [38] Assimilation of Jews in Venezuela was difficult, though small communities could be found in Puerto Cabello, Caracas, Villa de Cura, Carupano, Rio Chico, Maracaibo, and Barquisimeto. [38]
In response to rising political tension between the Netherlands and Venezuela, in March 1902, compelled the Jews of Coro again to seek an asylum in Curaçao, tendered to them by the governor of the island, Jhr. J. O. de Jong van Beek en Doorn, who, upon learning the facts, dispatched the Dutch warship HNLMS Koningin Regentes to protect them. It returned to Curaçao with eighty Jewish women and children on board. In July following, the same vessel and the HNLMS Utrecht were sent to La Vela de Coro for the remainder, and only a few Jewish residents remained behind to protect the property of the exiles. [36]
In 1908, accusing the opposition to regime of president Cipriano Castro, the Venezuelan government massively expelled Corsican producers and traders established in and around Carúpano.[ citation needed ]
During World War II, the Venezuelan government broke relations with the Axis powers in 1942, with many groups consisting of hundreds of German-Venezuelans leaving Venezuela to be repatriated into Nazi Germany. [39]
In the early 1980s, the Venezuelan government had invested much into the country's infrastructure and communications, though by the mid-1980s when Venezuela faced economic difficulties and inequality increased, [40] some Venezuelans emigrated. [41] Again, at the peak of Venezuela's socioeconomic difficulties in the late 1990s, Venezuelans began to emigrate once more, with some attempting to enter the United States legally and illegally. [42]
During the Bolivarian Revolution, many Venezuelans have sought residence in other countries. According to Newsweek , the "Bolivarian diaspora is a reversal of fortune on a massive scale" as compared to the 20th century, when "Venezuela was a haven for immigrants fleeing Old World repression and intolerance". [31] El Universal explained how the "Bolivarian diaspora" in Venezuela has been caused by the "deterioration of both the economy and the social fabric, rampant crime, uncertainty and lack of hope for a change in leadership in the near future". [30]
In 1998, the year Hugo Chavez was first elected president, only 14 Venezuelans were granted U.S. asylum. By September 1999, 1,086 Venezuelans were granted asylum according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. [43] It has been calculated that from 1998 to 2013, over 1.5 million Venezuelans (between 4% and 6% of the Venezuela's total population) left the country following the Bolivarian Revolution. [44] Former Venezuelan residents have been driven by lack of freedom, high levels of insecurity, and inadequate opportunities in the country. [44] [45] It has also been reported that some parents in Venezuela encourage their children to leave the country because of the insecurities Venezuelans face. [45] [46] This has led to significant human capital flight in Venezuela. [30] [44] [47]
Host communities and countries in the region are committed to helping Venezuelans and have been generously welcoming them. In 2018, the Brazilian Army launched Operation Welcome to help Venezuelan immigrants arriving in the state of Roraima, which borders Venezuela. [48] [49]
Despite some spontaneous returns of Venezuelans during the COVID-19 pandemic, the outflow of Venezuelan refugees and migrants to neighbouring countries and beyond persists. The number of refugees and migrants from Venezuela has surpassed 7 million globally, according to data from governments. A significant number of them are in need of international protection and humanitarian assistance.
Many countries in the region are increasingly overstretched and had implemented large-scale regularization processes to ensure refugees and migrants are documented and have access to rights and services. However, these efforts and gestures of solidarity require financial support. Most refugees and migrants from Venezuela arriving in neighbouring countries are families with children, pregnant women, elderly people, and people with disabilities.
The spiralling cost of living, fallout from the COVID-19 emergency, and high unemployment rates have increased the vulnerability of Venezuelan refugees and migrants and have made it difficult for many to rebuild their lives and integrate into host societies across the region. To access food or avoid homelessness, many Venezuelans resort to survival sex, begging or indebtedness.
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic still represent difficulties for socio-economic integration, pushing Venezuelans deeper into poverty. Many families, forced to reduce their food intake, have taken on debts to survive. They are at risk of eviction, exploitation, and protection risks. Economic hardships and political instability in some countries and increasing competition for jobs and limited access to public services have led to cases of discrimination and xenophobia.
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. Venezuela comprises an area of 916,445 km2 (353,841 sq mi), and its population was estimated at 29 million in 2022. The capital and largest urban agglomeration is the city of Caracas.
The Bolivarian Revolution is an ongoing political process in Venezuela that was started by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, the founder of the Fifth Republic Movement and later the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), and his successor Nicolás Maduro. The Bolivarian Revolution is named after Simón Bolívar, an early 19th-century Venezuelan revolutionary leader, prominent in the Spanish American wars of independence in achieving the independence of most of northern South America from Spanish rule. According to Chávez and supporters, the Bolivarian Revolution seeks to build an inter-American coalition to implement Bolivarianism, nationalism and a state-led economy.
Rafael José Urdaneta y Farías was a Venezuelan General and hero of the Spanish American wars of independence. He served as President of Gran Colombia from 1830 until 1831. He was an ardent supporter of Simón Bolívar and one of his most trusted and loyal allies.
Syrian diaspora refers to Syrian people and their descendants who chose or were forced to emigrate from Syria and now reside in other countries as immigrants, or as refugees of the Syrian Civil War.
Emigration from Colombia is a migratory phenomenon that started in the early 20th century.
Italian Venezuelans are Venezuelan-born citizens who are fully or partially of Italian descent, whose ancestors were Italians who emigrated to Venezuela during the Italian diaspora, or Italian-born people in Venezuela. Italians were among the largest groups of European immigrants to settle in the country. Approximately 5 million Venezuelans have some degree of Italian ancestry, corresponding to about 16% of the total population of Venezuela, while there were around 30,000 Italian citizens in Venezuela.
Venezuelans are the citizens identified with the country of Venezuela. This connection may be through citizenship, descent or cultural. For most Venezuelans, many or all of these connections exist and are the source of their Venezuelan citizenship or their bond to Venezuela.
The Venezuelan refugee crisis, the largest recorded refugee crisis in the Americas, refers to the emigration of millions of Venezuelans from their native country during the presidencies of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro since the Bolivarian Revolution. The revolution was an attempt by Chávez and later Maduro to establish a cultural and political hegemony, which culminated in the crisis in Venezuela. The resulting refugee crisis has been compared to those faced by Cuban exiles, Syrian refugees and those affected by the European migrant crisis. The Bolivarian government has denied any migratory crisis, stating that the United Nations and others are attempting to justify foreign intervention within Venezuela.
Venezuelan Mexicans are Mexicans who trace their heritage, or part of their heritage, to the nation of Venezuela. As of 2015, Venezuelans were the fifth largest immigrant group in Mexico, following Americans, Guatemalans, Spaniards and Colombians. By 2020, the Venezuelan population became the third largest immigrant group.
An ongoing socioeconomic and political crisis began in Venezuela during the presidency of Hugo Chávez and has worsened during the presidency of his successor Nicolás Maduro. It has been marked by hyperinflation, escalating starvation, disease, crime and mortality rates, resulting in massive emigration from the country.
The 2017 Venezuelan protests began in late January following the abandonment of Vatican-backed dialogue between the Bolivarian government and the opposition. The series of protests originally began in February 2014 when hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans protested due to high levels of criminal violence, inflation, and chronic scarcity of basic goods because of policies created by the Venezuelan government though the size of protests had decreased since 2014. Following the 2017 Venezuelan constitutional crisis, protests began to increase greatly throughout Venezuela.
The 2017 Venezuelan protests were a series of protests occurring throughout Venezuela. Protests began in January 2017 after the arrest of multiple opposition leaders and the cancellation of dialogue between the opposition and Nicolás Maduro's government.
The second inauguration of Nicolás Maduro as President of Venezuela took place on Thursday, 10 January 2019. The inauguration involved the swearing-in of Nicolás Maduro for his second term, and, especially within the context of Maduro's election, has been controversial and contested by various figures and organizations.
Emigration during the Hugo Chávez administration involved many Venezuelans, primarily upper-class and educated professionals, leaving Venezuela to live in other countries. This trend would increase throughout Chávez's tenure, later culminating in the Venezuelan refugee crisis. From the beginning to the end of Chávez tenure, it was estimated by the Central University of Venezuela (UCV) that 1.5 million Venezuelans had emigrated.
Chile–Venezuela relations are the diplomatic relations between the Republic of Chile and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Both nations are members of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, Group of 77, Latin American Integration Association, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States and the United Nations.
Diplomatic relations between the Argentine Republic and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela have existed for decades.
Venezuelan Argentines are Argentine citizens of partial or full Venezuelan descent, or Venezuelan citizens who have migrated to and settled in Argentina. As of 2022, there are 272,000 Venezuelans living in Argentina, most of whom migrated during the latter half of the 2010s as part of the Venezuelan refugee crisis. The last census held in Argentina, in 2010, registered only 6,000 Venezuelan migrants living in the country.
The Quito Process is the definition given to a group of Latin American countries to respond to the Venezuelan migration crisis, this multilateral instance was established after the so-called Quito Declaration, officially called "Declaration of Quito on human mobility of Venezuelan citizens in the region", on 4 September 2018 in the homonymous capital, where representatives of 13 countries met with the aim of exchanging information and articulate regional coordination to the Venezuelan refugee crisis. On 23 November 2018, the Quito Plan was signed, which included deepening the mechanisms of Venezuelan migration, international financial cooperation and the articulation with international agencies. A third meeting was held on 8 and 9 April 2019.
The 1814 Caracas Exodus or Emigration to the East occurred during the Venezuelan War of Independence, when Venezuelan Patriots and thousands of civilians fled from the capital Caracas towards the East of the country, after the defeat in the Second Battle of La Puerta on 15 June 1814.
We have more than 1.7 million refugees, that's the official number and I think it's under-reported. Bogota has 375,000 — that's like the size of New Orleans
The country has the highest gross national product per capita in South America but 30 percent of the people still live below the poverty line, and the gap seems to be widening rather than narrowing.
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