The following information was gathered through an interview with Patricia Andrade, founder of the Venezuela Awareness Foundation.
In 1999, Hugo Chavez was elected into presidency through democratic vote. Once he was in power, he immediately began making changes to control the country. For instance, he slowly began eliminating civil rights. If a civilian were to use their freedom of speech, a civilian right, they were immediately imprisoned or persecuted to be imprisoned. He began eliminating more and more until he ultimately had complete control over his people, and thus Venezuela became an anti-democratic dictatorship.
80% of Venezuelans seek refuge in Miami, Florida.
The majority of Venezuelans arrive legally and documented through political asylum.
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The first large groups of immigrants can be noted as the following:
Initially civilians began moving out of Venezuela because they did not feel they were protected by their government. Aside from slowly losing their civil rights, government officials and officers were able to walk into homes and businesses and claim them as their own without reason, leaving the owner with nothing. Because of this insecurity and fear, civilians began selling their property to avoid being left with nothing. This marked the first large group of immigrants.
The process continued to worsen. The second group of immigrants consisted largely of oil / petroleum employees of the massive Petrolios de Venezuela. Unlike the United States in which many oil companies exist, there was only one in Venezuela, which was Petrolios de Venezuela and belonged to the government. Employees of this country were treated exceptionally well and invested in to be able to grow within the company, which is why the company became so successful in Venezuela’s rich oil trade. Once the new government took power, supporters of the Dictatorship, the Chavistas, replaced the original employees, and the company began to fall. The new government began to persecute and imprison the former employees. Millions of Venezuelan families left the country as a result, marking the second large wave of immigrants. Following this, the number of immigrants decreased once again.
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The government continued to worsen as employment, safety and security, property, economic status, and quality of life began to lessen. There was less food, more crime, and more fear each day. Even upon the death of Hugo Chavez, the country found itself closer and closer to collapse under Chavez-appointed Nicolas Maduro's rule.
In 2014, Venezuelans were fed up with what their lives had turned into, and took to the streets to protest. The entire country took part in the protests, filling the streets in every city seeking change. The government began to reprimand and imprison these Venezuelans, persecuting and torturing them. Venezuela had never seen so many civilians imprisoned, and the torture took all kinds of inhumane forms. Crime was at an all-time high, and injustice was prevalent. This is where the biggest waves of immigrants began.
The third wave of immigrants was by parents who, in effort to protect their children from the life in Venezuela, sent their children to Miami by themselves. There was no time to plan and shelter their children, or go with them. This was done out of emergency. The parents were either being persecuted by the government, or simply desperate to protect them and give them a better life. Although they were sent to several different countries, the majority of them were sent to Miami, Florida. This has yet to stop or decrease in quantity since 2014.
Today, Venezuela is in the worst condition it has ever been in. Food is scarce, and there are no medicines of any kind. In addition to this, crime rates and poverty are at record highs, bringing Venezuela now to the second dangerous country in the world. The country is at war with itself. Murders occur daily over theft of grocery bags, phones, purses, etc. Supermarkets are empty and Venezuelans must make mile-long lines to purchase bare necessities such as toilet paper. No Venezuelan is safe. There is little of everything, but more than anything, there is little freedom.
The influx of Venezuelans has risen from just children to entire families seeking lives where there is freedom, food, medicine, quality of education, and quality of life. The numbers have been rapidly increasing since 2014.
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Statistics:
From 1998 to 2013, there were 16,883 requests for political asylum from persecuted and often tortured Venezuelans seeking safety from their own government. That is over fifteen years.
*Requests are not per individual person - rather, a request can account for a single individual, and a single request can also account for an entire family of any number.*
From 2014, the year of the protests, to the first six months of 2016, the total number of requests amounts to 16, 893.
According to statistical patterns, in the year 2016 alone, the total number of requests for political asylum is estimated to reach
20-25,000.
---
What does this mean?
In 2016 alone, over 100,000 Venezuelan's are entering the United States having been persecuted by the government. Over 75% will stay in South Florida.
In 1999, Hugo Chavez was elected into presidency through democratic vote. Once he was in power, he immediately began making changes to control the country. For instance, he slowly began eliminating civil rights. If a civilian were to use their freedom of speech, a civilian right, they were immediately imprisoned or persecuted to be imprisoned. He began eliminating more and more until he ultimately had complete control over his people, and thus Venezuela became an anti-democratic dictatorship.
80% of Venezuelans seek refuge in Miami, Florida.
The majority of Venezuelans arrive legally and documented through political asylum.
---
The first large groups of immigrants can be noted as the following:
Initially civilians began moving out of Venezuela because they did not feel they were protected by their government. Aside from slowly losing their civil rights, government officials and officers were able to walk into homes and businesses and claim them as their own without reason, leaving the owner with nothing. Because of this insecurity and fear, civilians began selling their property to avoid being left with nothing. This marked the first large group of immigrants.
The process continued to worsen. The second group of immigrants consisted largely of oil / petroleum employees of the massive Petrolios de Venezuela. Unlike the United States in which many oil companies exist, there was only one in Venezuela, which was Petrolios de Venezuela and belonged to the government. Employees of this country were treated exceptionally well and invested in to be able to grow within the company, which is why the company became so successful in Venezuela’s rich oil trade. Once the new government took power, supporters of the Dictatorship, the Chavistas, replaced the original employees, and the company began to fall. The new government began to persecute and imprison the former employees. Millions of Venezuelan families left the country as a result, marking the second large wave of immigrants. Following this, the number of immigrants decreased once again.
----
The government continued to worsen as employment, safety and security, property, economic status, and quality of life began to lessen. There was less food, more crime, and more fear each day. Even upon the death of Hugo Chavez, the country found itself closer and closer to collapse under Chavez-appointed Nicolas Maduro's rule.
In 2014, Venezuelans were fed up with what their lives had turned into, and took to the streets to protest. The entire country took part in the protests, filling the streets in every city seeking change. The government began to reprimand and imprison these Venezuelans, persecuting and torturing them. Venezuela had never seen so many civilians imprisoned, and the torture took all kinds of inhumane forms. Crime was at an all-time high, and injustice was prevalent. This is where the biggest waves of immigrants began.
The third wave of immigrants was by parents who, in effort to protect their children from the life in Venezuela, sent their children to Miami by themselves. There was no time to plan and shelter their children, or go with them. This was done out of emergency. The parents were either being persecuted by the government, or simply desperate to protect them and give them a better life. Although they were sent to several different countries, the majority of them were sent to Miami, Florida. This has yet to stop or decrease in quantity since 2014.
Today, Venezuela is in the worst condition it has ever been in. Food is scarce, and there are no medicines of any kind. In addition to this, crime rates and poverty are at record highs, bringing Venezuela now to the second dangerous country in the world. The country is at war with itself. Murders occur daily over theft of grocery bags, phones, purses, etc. Supermarkets are empty and Venezuelans must make mile-long lines to purchase bare necessities such as toilet paper. No Venezuelan is safe. There is little of everything, but more than anything, there is little freedom.
The influx of Venezuelans has risen from just children to entire families seeking lives where there is freedom, food, medicine, quality of education, and quality of life. The numbers have been rapidly increasing since 2014.
---
Statistics:
From 1998 to 2013, there were 16,883 requests for political asylum from persecuted and often tortured Venezuelans seeking safety from their own government. That is over fifteen years.
*Requests are not per individual person - rather, a request can account for a single individual, and a single request can also account for an entire family of any number.*
From 2014, the year of the protests, to the first six months of 2016, the total number of requests amounts to 16, 893.
According to statistical patterns, in the year 2016 alone, the total number of requests for political asylum is estimated to reach
20-25,000.
---
What does this mean?
In 2016 alone, over 100,000 Venezuelan's are entering the United States having been persecuted by the government. Over 75% will stay in South Florida.