As diretrizes restricionistas na América do Sul frente à migração venezuelana (2017-2021)

Abstract

The Venezuelan migration, due to the political, economic, and social crises that Venezuela has been facing since the beginning of the Nicolás Maduro regime in 2013, had a significant impact on the neighbouring countries, resulting in an abrupt reconfiguration of the regional migration framework. Until the end of May 2024, more than 7.77 million Venezuelans have left the country, with around 6.59 million remaining in Latin America and the Caribbean, representing the largest exodus in recent history in the region. Colombia, Peru, Chile, and Ecuador, which until that stage were considered countries of emigration, by having a history of displacement of their nationals to Venezuela during the second half of the 20th century, jointly with Brazil, became the main destinations for thousands of Venezuelans. The rapid increase in the Venezuelan flow has imposed a series of challenges on receiving countries, highlighting the urgent need to adjust migration and assistance policies, in a context marked by limited resources and institutional capacities. Initially, the countries adopted an open-door approach, mainly as part of a narrative of denunciation of the Maduro government. However, with the lack of signs of improvement in the situation in Venezuela and the continued increase of the migration flows, countries began to adopt measures that, although justified as a way of guaranteeing regular migration, in practice aimed to restrict the entry of Venezuelans in their territories. The proliferation of these measures, since 2018, has been simultaneous with the rise of right-wing governments in the region. The governments of Lenín Moreno (2017-2021) in Ecuador, Sebastián Piñera (2018-2022) in Chile, Martin Vizcarra (2018-2018) in Peru, Ivan Duque (2018-2022) in Colombia and Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022) in Brazil, characterized by right-wing political alignments and orientations, had a significant impact on the migration regulations of these countries throughout their mandates. In this regard, this study aims to analyze the migration guidelines adopted by the main South American countries receiving Venezuelans (Colombia, Peru, Chile, Ecuador and Brazil) to respond to this migratory flow, during the period from 2017 to 2021, questioning whether these constitute a restrictionist trend for migration in the region. In the specificity of the Brazilian case, we seek to understand to what extent the migration regulations adopted in the aforementioned period, during the governments of Michel Temer (2016-2018) and Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022), interact with the directions observed in the regional context, and whether they represent a regressive shift in Brazilian migration policy. For this purpose, the research used a comparative and qualitative analytical approach based on primary sources and a bibliographic review on Venezuelan migration in South America. Furthermore, official documents, laws and official speeches by authorities were examined, as well as reports from international organizations and media. Thus, the work starts from a more comprehensive discussion at a regional level, by analyzing the developments and impact of migration guidelines for Venezuelans in South America, to explain the specificity of the measures implemented to respond to the migration flow of Venezuelans in Brazil.