A Venezuelan exodus

Since 2015, people have been leaving Venezuela in record numbers. At the time of this research in 2019, the Regional Refugee and Migrant Response Plan estimated that there were 3.6 million people who had left the country as a result of economic and political crisis (Response for Venezuelans, 2019, p 8). Just four years later and there are now over 7.7 million Venezuelan migrants and refugees across the globe (Response for Venezuelans, 2023). The vast majority – over 6.5 million – have remained in the Latin American and Caribbean region, while others have made their way to the United States and Southern Europe (Labrador, 2019). Like most humanitarian ‘events’, the implications are shifting and ongoing. While I situate the findings from this research in the 2019 context, I also signal some developments since this snapshot in time.

Within this chapter, I discuss the drivers for the recent increase in Venezuelan mobility and the international responses that have emerged as a result. I concentrate on Brazil's role in the regional intervention, highlighting various visa regimes, policies, and ‘Operação Acolhida’ practices. In so doing, I begin to uncover how the concept of debilitating mobilities underscores the broader logics and aims of the response.

Colombia has received the largest number of Venezuelan migrants and refugees, about 2.8 million, followed by Peru with around 1.5 million. Brazil makes it next on the list, hosting over 500 thousand Venezuelans as of September 2023 (Response for Venezuelans, 2023). Those journeying across neighbouring borders experience particularly difficult passages. To enter Colombia, for example, many will walk through the freezing cold Andes Mountains, often resulting in damaged shoes and feet.