Venezuela's 'staggering' exodus reaches 4 million, UN refugee agency says

[brooklynite]

Source: The Guardian

More than 4 million Venezuelans have now fled economic and humanitarian chaos in what the UN’s refugee agency called a “staggering” exodus that has swelled by 1 million people since last November alone.

The number of Venezuelan migrants and refugees stood at about 695,000 at the end of 2015, the UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced on Friday.

Three and a half years later – with Venezuela immersed in a seemingly intractable social and political crisis – that number has “skyrocketed” to more than 4 million, the groups said.

About half of that total have sought shelter in two South American countries – Colombia and Peru – which host about 1.3 million and 768,000 respectively. Many others have made for Chile (288,000), Ecuador (263,000), Brazil (168,000) and Argentina (130,000).

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/07/venezuela-exodus-4-million-un-refugee-agency

[gordianot]

1. You have to ask yourself who is feeding this chaos?

[brooklynite]

2. Just a guess, but.....Maduro?

[gordianot]

5. I figure this shit show has bigger sponsors.

You can usually tell by observing Trump and those he avoids blaming.

[hack89]

9. This started well before Trump

Where have you been for the past five years as Venezuela spiraled out of control?

[gordianot]

10. These things do not just happen they are manufactured.

Venezuela was not a poor country to fall this far even with rotten leaders is a stretch.

[hack89]

11. Misguided government implementing poor policies

Can definitely wreck an economy. There is plenty of historical precedent.

[hack89]

3. The Venezuelan government is at the top of the list

Considering it took several decades to get to this point.

[Blue_Tires]

6. You mean Maduro? THAT guy?

Because the buck stops with *him* and NOBODY else.

(And before anyone brings it up, Venezuela's economy was a dumpster fire long before the sanctions came down)

[Zorro]

4. Just returned from an extended trip to Ecuador

There are scads of Venezuelans at the intersections of major cities walking between stopped traffic selling cold drinks, food, novelties, and performing acrobatics -- anything to earn a bit of change. It's very disconcerting to see.

[Blue_Tires]

7. That can't be right...

Certain people have been screaming at me for months that the whole place is a leftist's paradise?

[Nimrod900]

8. I would not be surprised

to see the US forcibly remove Maduro as we get closer to the 2020 election. What better way to win the support of the expats in the US? They are probably just waiting for the right moment.

[yardwork]

12. That worked so well for JFK.