In twist of fate, Venezuelans flee Maduro dictatorship and return to Spain

[GatoGordo]

Escaping violence, Venezuelans struggle with new life in Spain

MADRID, July 20 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) -

The third time Stefania Pace was attacked, she knew it was time to leave Venezuela.

In the first assault, three men with a gun robbed her outside her Caracas home, the second she was mugged at 10 a.m. In the latest, in January, a man crashed into her car and pulled a gun on her when she demanded he take responsibility, she said.

"I called my mum, after I calmed down, and I told her, 'Now is my time to go, I can't stand it'," the 28-year-old said.

Political turmoil and a crippling economic crisis have left millions of Venezuelans struggling to eat and short of medicines. About 100 people have died and more than 1,500 have been injured in months of anti-government unrest.

Pace flew to Spain's capital Madrid in May, leaving her home country with regret.

"That doesn't mean that I don't like Europe. But it's not your culture. You feel like you don't belong," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in Madrid.

A psychologist at home, Pace is one of a rising number of Venezuelans forced into new lives abroad.

The United Nations refugee agency said on Friday that globally 52,000 Venezuelans had applied for asylum this year, a rise from 27,000 in the whole of 2016. It said 4,300 Venezuelans had sought asylum in Spain so far in 2017, the fourth most popular destination.

Venezuelans had the most asylum applications in Spain last year, ahead of Syrians and Ukrainians, according the Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid (CEAR).

-snip-

http://news.trust.org/item/20170720083308-6ok4d/

[Marksman_91]

1. Not just Spain. Pretty much everywhere they can go.

So many of my friends and most of myself, as well as myself, have fled to wherever we can go, be it the US, or Europe, or other parts of Latin America. Hell, even Asia or Australia. Literally any country right now save for war-torn ones like Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. and the crappiest holes in Africa are better choices than Venezuela right now. And anyone who has the means to leave to those countries will go first chance they get.

It used to be that Venezuela was the envy of Latin America and received millions of immigrants especially from Europe during the 20th century, and many Colombians escaping the guerrilla war. It was the biggest land of opportunity in the continent. Now it's become the opposite, sadly, all thanks to this shitty failed experiment called "Chavismo"

[GatoGordo]

2. Correct. The twist of fate was Spaniards fleeing to Venezuela in the 1930's

Escaping the fascist dictatorship that was Franco. Now, a new "socialist" dictator is making life unbearable.

My own house if full of Venezuelan expats.