Venezuelan diaspora

The Venezuelan diaspora refers to Venezuelan citizens living outside Venezuela. In times of economic and political crisis since the 2010s, Venezuelans have often fled to other countries in the Americas and beyond to establish a more sustainable life.

Pre - Columbian period
The first settlers of the Antilles were a foraging people who arrived some 6,000 or 7,000 years ago set out in canoes from the northeastern coast of actual Venezuela. A second wave of pottery-making farmers starting some 2,500 years ago and island-hopped across the Caribbean. This groups called saladoids, who are related to today's Arawak-speaking peoples came from actual Venezuela,they supplanted the earlier foraging inhabitants—presumably through disease or violence—as they settled new islands. A third wave after 250 CE, called the barrancoid people settled in the Antilles after migrating up the Orinoco River toward the sea. A fourth wave the Caribs are commonly believed to have migrated from the Orinoco River area in Venezuela to settle in the Caribbean islands about 1200 CE, but an analysis of ancient DNA suggests that the Caribs had a common origin with contemporary groups in the Greater and Lesser Antilles.

19th century
After the fall of the First Republic, in 1812 Simón Bolívar and several republican leaders were forced to left the country to Antilles and to New Granada.

The 1814 Caracas Exodus (Éxodo caraqueño de 1814) or Emigration to the East (Emigración a Oriente) occurred during the Venezuelan War of Independence, when Venezuelan Patriots and thousands of civilians fled from the capital Caracas towards the East of the country, after the defeat in the Second Battle of La Puerta on 15 June 1814.

News about the approach of José Tomás Boves and his infamous royalist troops caused panic amongst the population in Caracas, so on 7 July 1814, more than 20,000 people emigrated to the East of the country, along with Simon Bolívar and his remaining Patriot troops. Many thousands perished. Although a large number of people followed Bolívar on the long journey, another group, especially the most politically committed, sought refuge in the Antilles or New Granada, while a third group gave up the march and returned to Caracas to place themselves under the protection of Archbishop Coll y Prat. After the fall of the Second Republic, Bolívar fled again to New Granada and later to Jamaica and Haiti. In this country he would meet several exiled republican leaders and obtain significant support from the ruler of southern Haiti, Alexandre Pétion.

After the battle of Carabobo, Bolívar passed a law of expulsion of the Spanish on September 18, 1821. All Spaniards of peninsular or insular origin who did not prove that they had been part of the independent movement would be forcibly removed from the country. In Puerto Cabello, about 2,000 Spanish civilians took refuge in the fortress of San Felipe whose garrison resisted the siege until 1823. That place was the last refuge of a territory that had been Hispanic since the time of Christopher Columbus. The capitulation of the fortress ended with only 400 surviving soldiers. The main destination for these expelled were the Spanish Caribbean islands, especially Cuba and Puerto Rico, where 3,555 refugees arrived.

In 1827, a group of Jews moved from Curaçao and settled in Coro, Venezuela. In 1855, rioting in the area forced the entire Jewish population, 168 individuals, back to Curaçao. Assimilation of Jews in Venezuela was difficult, though small communities could be found in Puerto Cabello, Caracas, Villa de Cura, Carupano, Rio Chico, Maracaibo, and Barquisimeto.

20th century
In response to rising political tension between the Netherlands and Venezuela, in March 1902, compelled the Jews of Coro again to seek an asylum in Curaçao, tendered to them by the governor of the island, Jhr. J. O. de Jong van Beek en Doorn, who, upon learning the facts, dispatched the Dutch warship HNLMS Koningin Regentes to protect them. It returned to Curaçao with eighty Jewish women and children on board. In July following, the same vessel and the HNLMS Utrecht (1898) were sent to La Vela de Coro for the remainder, and only a few Jewish residents remained behind to protect the property of the exiles.

In 1908, accusing the opposition to regime of president Cipriano Castro, the Venezuelan government massively expelled Corsican producers and traders established in and around Carúpano.

During World War II, the Venezuelan government broke relations with the Axis powers in 1942, with many groups consisting of hundreds of German-Venezuelans leaving Venezuela to be repatriated into Nazi Germany.

In the early 1980s, the Venezuelan government had invested much into the country's infrastructure and communications, though by the mid-1980s when Venezuela faced economic difficulties and inequality increased, some Venezuelans emigrated. Again, at the peak of Venezuela's socioeconomic difficulties in the late 1990s, Venezuelans began to emigrate once more, with some attempting to enter the United States legally and illegally.

Venezuelan refugee crisis
During the Bolivarian Revolution, many Venezuelans have sought residence in other countries. According to Newsweek, the "Bolivarian diaspora is a reversal of fortune on a massive scale" as compared to the 20th century, when "Venezuela was a haven for immigrants fleeing Old World repression and intolerance". El Universal explained how the "Bolivarian diaspora" in Venezuela has been caused by the "deterioration of both the economy and the social fabric, rampant crime, uncertainty and lack of hope for a change in leadership in the near future".

In 1998, the year Hugo Chavez was first elected president, only 14 Venezuelans were granted U.S. asylum. By September 1999, 1,086 Venezuelans were granted asylum according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. It has been calculated that from 1998 to 2013, over 1.5 million Venezuelans (between 4% and 6% of the Venezuela's total population) left the country following the Bolivarian Revolution. Former Venezuelan residents have been driven by lack of freedom, high levels of insecurity, and inadequate opportunities in the country. It has also been reported that some parents in Venezuela encourage their children to leave the country because of the insecurities Venezuelans face. This has led to significant human capital flight in Venezuela.

Host communities and countries in the region are committed to helping Venezuelans and have been generously welcoming them. In 2018, the Brazilian Army launched Operation Welcome to help Venezuelan immigrants arriving in the state of Roraima, which borders Venezuela.

Despite some spontaneous returns of Venezuelans during the COVID-19 pandemic, the outflow of Venezuelan refugees and migrants to neighbouring countries and beyond persists. The number of refugees and migrants from Venezuela has surpassed 8.5 million globally, according to data from governments. A significant number of them are in need of international protection and humanitarian assistance.

Many countries in the region are increasingly overstretched and had implemented large-scale regularization processes to ensure refugees and migrants are documented and have access to rights and services. However, these efforts and gestures of solidarity require financial support. Most refugees and migrants from Venezuela arriving in neighbouring countries are families with children, pregnant women, elderly people, and people with disabilities.

The spiralling cost of living, fallout from the COVID-19 emergency, and high unemployment rates have increased the vulnerability of Venezuelan refugees and migrants and have made it difficult for many to rebuild their lives and integrate into host societies across the region. To access food or avoid homelessness, many Venezuelans resort to survival sex, begging or indebtedness.

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic still represent difficulties for socio-economic integration, pushing Venezuelans deeper into poverty. Many families, forced to reduce their food intake, have taken on debts to survive. They are at risk of eviction, exploitation, and protection risks. Economic hardships and political instability in some countries and increasing competition for jobs and limited access to public services have led to cases of discrimination and xenophobia.