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As Venezuela Migration Crisis Worsens, Regional Goodwill and Resources
Running Out

Leslie Bonilla

   Thousands of Venezuelan migrants stream across the SimĂłn BolĂvar
   Bridge into CĂșcuta, Colombia every day. Some return within hours,
   having gotten the food and medicine that they can't find at home.
   Others stay in Colombia, host to over 1.3 million forcibly displaced
   Venezuelans, according to the United Nations.

   The welcome is getting colder. In Latin America, conservative and
   populist governments are passing increasingly restrictive migration
   policies. Border cities like CĂșcuta are finding their health and
   education systems overwhelmed, crime rates up and wages undercut.
   Attacks on Venezuelan migrants have increased in frequency.

   "No economy in Latin America is prepared to absorb this enormous
   workforce. It is going to continue to worsen," said Tamara Broner, a
   Venezuelan researcher at Human Rights Watch.

   Colombia, for example, began with a generous, long-term approach that
   focused on integrating migrants. The country approved unrestricted
   travel within a marked border region, maintained free access to schools
   and the healthcare system, and authorized a $240 million package in
   special funding for struggling border cities, including a tax break,
   cheap credit, hospital funding and plans to improve local
   infrastructure.

   But months later, the numbers of migrants fleeing severe food and
   medicine shortages in Venezuela are still increasing, while resources
   and goodwill are running out.

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