Ecuadorians also flee from Venezuelan crisis

Posted On 21 Aug 2018

Ecuadornews:

The migration, of at least 2 million citizens of the llanero country, is considered a continental problem. The OAS requested an emergency meeting.

José Palacios went back to the same escape route as 33 years ago. So, he was a teenager and his family in Guayaquil lived difficult times.

Before the crisis, a relative who migrated to Venezuela convinced his parents to send him to Caracas. There he would be better and protected.

He was 15 when he arrived on a bus to Rumichaca to cross into Colombia. He continued on the road to Caracas to meet his relative. In the capital he took root, fell in love and formed a family. He dedicated himself to the trade that gave him enough money to support his wife and daughter.

But things changed and with the few incomes just “survived”. Without hope, José again arrived in Cúcuta and took the road to Rumichaca. Juliana Alonso, daughter of Manabite parents who emigrated to that nation to open up a better future, also accompanied on her trip.

Now, Juliana will go to Manta to work and bring the rest of the family. The same goal has José, who calculates that at the end of the year, working tirelessly, he can get his wife and daughter to accompany him in his new home.

#ESPECIAL | Más de tres días toma a un venezolano llegar al #Ecuador. Les entusiasma recibir un sueldo en dólares y por eso quieren quedarse. Nuestro país se ha convertido en una suerte de trampolín para tomar fuerza y reconstruir su nación►https://t.co/bXUS01YDI7 pic.twitter.com/e5hNdpuhTe
— El Telégrafo Ecuador (@el_telegrafo) 20 de agosto de 2018

The exodus of Venezuelans is also measured by the dollars they can obtain. The family of José and Juliana paid for their transfer on an international bus. The value of the trip is estimated at $ 200, but they have secured their place on a bus that left Caracas and will arrive in Guayaquil.

They will have help to cross migration and your trip will be calm. For Venezuelans, obtaining dollars is synonymous with survival. Its currency, the bolivar, woke up this Monday 20 August 5,000 times poorer and with an inflation calculated in a million percent for this year, the American currency is a rope that can rescue them from the avalanche.

Alexander Acebedo says that those who have money can get dollars in Venezuela. Now their salaries are paid and preferential places are given to access that currency. And with dollars in hand, it is speculated on the black market and you can live without frights. But the finances of the majority of Venezuelans are affected.

Twenty million bolivars were enough to buy a chicken, but a worker with a minimum wage must save, without spending, his salary for four months to buy one. The crisis forced more than 2 million Venezuelans to seek refuge in South America in recent years.

The places with the greatest presence are Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile, but their migration has a continental impact, which is why the Organization of American States (OAS) convened an urgent session.

The meeting of the Permanent Council takes place after the immigration measures to demand a passport for citizens to enter Peru and Ecuador and attacks on camps in Brazil.

x agreed that “unusual flows should be analyzed at the continental level. “Of the migration of Venezuelans. He said that the Government analyzes the scenarios to make decisions in the future. In his opinion, the passport requirement must be accompanied by other measures, but he did not advance which ones. Meanwhile, Judge Marjorie Naranjo ignored the request for precautionary measures to revoke the request for a passport and called for a public hearing this Friday. (I)

#Ecuador explica exigencia de pasaportes a venezolanos►https://t.co/TZClBoCMDX

*Revise nuestro especial web, “Ecuador trampolín del sueño venezolano" ►https://t.co/bXUS01YDI7 pic.twitter.com/nMdOY1h2Qe
— El Telégrafo Ecuador (@el_telegrafo) 17 de agosto de 2018