Online Zoom event.
The approximately five million Venezuelans, who have left their country in recent years, represent the largest exodus of migrants in the history of the Western Hemisphere. The arrival of Venezuelans to Colombia began at the beginning of this century when highly educated professionals fled the country, fearing the policies of Hugo Chavez. By 2014, many more decided to leave as the Venezuelan economy continued to collapse and the bolivar, the national currency, went into free-fall leaving a large percentage of the population without basic necessities. This second cohort, mostly low-income residents, were not fleeing a war, but were leaving a country mired in insecurity and lacking access to services, food and medicine.
By the beginning of 2020, Venezuelans continued to arrive to Colombia, overwhelming Colombia’s capacity to absorb and settle them. They joined the close to 1,800,000 compatriots, who call Colombia their home. With the arrival of Covid-19 to the region, the situation deteriorated greatly and swiftly for all, and the Venezuelan population residing in Colombia was hit particularly hard. Since March, many opted to return voluntarily to their country out of fear of the pandemic, as well as mass unemployment, lack of access to health services and forced home evictions. Confinement gave them no other choice and over 100,000 have returned to Venezuela by bus, humanitarian flights or by foot. Venezuelans today are invisible victims of the pandemic’s externalities and, regrettably, have been disproportionately displaced, further exasperating their socioeconomic distress.
Food for Thought is a speaker series that welcomes a distinguished lineup of EMPA Faculty approaching the Covid-19 crisis and social justice reform. Each week a speaker will present their recommendation paper, highlight their perspective on the crisis, and engage in a dialogue with EMPA students, alumni, and other faculty members.
We are in a pivotal moment - full of opportunities for policymakers to transform lessons from the crisis into concrete benefits for their communities. While we cannot come together physically to exchange ideas, we believe we can leverage the virtual tools at our disposal to activate stakeholders and build out practical and innovative solutions to the crisis at hand.
Zoom link will be sent upon registration.
