Quote:A flood of Venezuelans fleeing their nation’s economic and humanitarian crisis has led two South American nations to stiffen their entry requirements.

Peru announced on Friday that they will follow Ecuador’s recent decision to require all Venezuelans reaching the border to enter with a passport- a document that has become increasingly difficult to obtain in Venezuela.

The decision drew an immediate rebuke from authorities in Colombia, which has become a gateway for Venezuelans leaving their homeland.

An astounding number are now leaving by land, first crossing the borders into Colombia and then travelling to neighbouring Peru and Ecuador.

In Ecuador, authorities estimated more than 4,000 Venezuelans entered each day in early August over the Rumichaca International Bridge.

Though his own country already imposed its own often ignored entry requirements for Venezuelans, Colombia Migration Director Christian Kruger warned against the new passport rule.

He said that it could create a bottleneck at the Rumichaca International Bridge connecting the two countries.

‘We are immensely worried about the consequences this might present,’ he said.

According to the United Nations, 2.3 million Venezuelans have fled since 2014 as their country reels from hyperinflation, severe shortages of food, medicine and even ink and paper for passports.

More than one million Venezuelans have arrived in Colombia in less than two years, with many using the mountainous nation as a bridge to Ecuador and Peru in search of jobs and asylum.

(08-19-2018 08:00 PM)dfarr Wrote:  But they have free healthcare!!!

Quote:According to the United Nations, 2.3 million Venezuelans have fled since 2014 as their country reels from hyperinflation, severe shortages of food, medicine and even ink and paper for passports.

(08-19-2018 09:00 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  

Quote:According to the United Nations, 2.3 million Venezuelans have fled since 2014 as their country reels from hyperinflation, severe shortages of food, medicine and even ink and paper for passports.

Note: Venezuela’s population is approx. the same as Texas.

(08-20-2018 06:28 AM)SuperFlyBCat Wrote:  US Navy sending hospital ship to treat Venezuelan refugees

BOGOTA, Colombia — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Friday he would dispatch a U.S. Navy hospital ship to the Colombian coast to help treat Venezuelan refugees that have overwhelmed the Colombian medical system — the first U.S. military foray into the Venezuela crisis.
https://nypost.com/2018/08/18/us-navy-sending-hospital-ship-to-treat-venezuelan-refugees/