Vanessa Neumann, Cipher Brief: Witnessing Venezuela's Exodus
CUCUTA, Colombia – Latin America analysts are bracing for a Syria-sized exodus in the Western Hemisphere, as beleaguered Venezuelans flee a humanitarian crisis of a country at war, but without tanks and bombs.
The weapons of mass destruction in Venezuela’s case have been hyperinflation, starvation, sickness and fear – especially fear of imprisonment and torture at the hands of the powerful SEBIN – Venezuela’s the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service. Its commander is affectionately known as ‘220’ for the voltage applied to a detainee’s genitals in between bouts of being forced to eat human excrement. It happens routinely, and it happens to my friends.
“Why?” I was asked when I said I was going to Cúcuta, Colombia, on the border of Venezuela, and ground zero of the migration crisis. Because if you’re going to opine on a humanitarian crisis, I answered, you might do well to go and meet the humans enduring it.
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WNU Editor: Brookings estimates that 4,000,000 Venezuelans have fled the country from the time when Chavez took power to the end of 2017. Here is an easy prediction .... that number is going to be doubled (if not more) in the next year or two. For the average Venezuelan .... the country is no longer livable for them.
More News On The Mass Exodus From Venezuela
The Biggest Migrant Crisis In The Americas Is Taking Place In Venezuela -- Kenneth Rapoza, Forbes
Venezuela: Wartime numbers of refugees without a war -- IRIN
Millions Flee Socialist Paradise of Venezuela -- Evan Maguire, Spectator
'Bolivarian Diaspora' can no longer be ignored -- Antonio Mora, The Hill
Venezuela’s refugee crisis will exceed Syria’s; we must help -- Dany Bahar, Brookings
