Venezuela's immigration to Catalonia receives humanitarian aid from entities in order to survive

The mass exodus of the Venezuelan population that flees from the country to Catalonia has grown exponentially in just four years. This community comes with a minimum of resources, no place to sleep, without documentation in a row and without money to be able to feed.

This is explained by the president of the Casa Venezuela Association in Catalonia (Asocaven), Vanesa Sánchez. "For the past four years there has been a mass exodus of the Venezuelan population because of the human rights violation that is taking place in the country with total impunity," she emphasizes.

This association receives, on a daily basis, many requests for basic assistance that overwhelm the entity's possibilities. "People ask us for help because they can not eat, they have no place to sleep, they do not work ... They ask for help to live. This was not usual before, "Sánchez says.

That is why Asocaven has chosen to coordinate with other entities of the territory to join forces and be able to offer humanitarian assistance to the immigrant population of Venezuela. The president explains that her association is networking with Caritas, the Foro Penal International, the Banc d'Aliments, Lean Ayuda Humanitaria or Ven Da Tu Mano, among others.

"Among all the entities we send medicines to the country, we assist political prisoners in the whole legal assistance issue, we advise on procedures to achieve rooting, we offer accommodation spaces, we distribute food or pass on the demands of people based on their needs so they can be taken care of, "explains the president.

As an example, about 15 years ago, the population of Venezuela in Catalonia was around 3,000 people. To date, the community now exceeds 30,000. "The increase is exponential," Sánchez says. Add: "It's a rule-out exodus."

Venezuela, in addition, had never been a country of migratory culture, such as Ecuador or Colombia, but for four years this has changed. According to the president, before, people who left the country had a roadmap, a defined life plan. They went for some reason, whether it was to study or to work. Now no.

"We are very concerned when immigration is not planned. This massive flight of the population is explained by the covert war that is lived in the country. Venezuela has become one of the most violent countries in the world, "denounces Sánchez.

On this aspect, the Foro Penal Internacional reports that there are 23,000 dead people every year, of which, 16,000 are by firearm. "People can not live in the country because they have no money. The resources have been stolen. There is State terrorism, the judicial system does not work and the political structure is corrupt, "said the president.

The country has people taken with torture policies, there are no medicines, there is no food and commodities cost up to 63 minimum wages. The spokeswoman for the Foro Penal Internacional in Catalonia, Elisabeth Casañas, explains that rates of malnutrition in the country have increased, that people can not make three meals daily, that there are dropouts for children and many people eat from waste.

Faced with this picture, the Venezuelan community is skeptical and sees the future of its country in the medium or long term. The population think Venezuela will take again to be the rich country it was before. Meanwhile, the population expects the process of democratic transition to be reached. "We've been spoiled, we'll take it back. Now we must pass a transition, "says the president herself.