MIAMI — Sixty countries pledged around $3.4 billion in emergency aid for Venezuelan refugees who have fled the economic collapse in their country and are now in neighboring nations amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Venezuela has one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises that has spiraled under President Nicolás Maduro. Its healthcare system is “grossly unprepared” for the pandemic, with shortages in medications, supplies, and interruptions of basic utilities, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). As of Tuesday, it had 1,177 confirmed cases of COVID-19, though HRW believes the real number is much higher “given the limited availability of reliable testing, limited transparency, and the persecution of medical professionals and journalists who report on this issue.”
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Approximately 5 million Venezuelan refugees have fled the South American country in recent years and gone to nearby countries like Colombia, Peru, and Chile. Now, as jobs have dried up in those countries due to the pandemic, thousands of Venezuelan migrant workers are seeking to return home.
But experts warn that overcrowding in low-income neighborhoods and the lack of water in hospitals and homes create a scenario for the virus to spread quickly in the country.
“The plight of Venezuelan refugees and migrants has worsened even further,” said Filippo Grandi, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees during a virtual pledging conference hosted by the European Union, Canada, Spain, Norway, and the United Nations. “The impact of COVID-19 is dramatic for countries across Latin America and the Caribbean and has pushed the Venezuelans living there into a spiral of poverty and despair.”
The U.S. pledged $200 million in assistance, including over $139 million in humanitarian assistance for Venezuelans inside the country and in the region. The U.S. says it is the largest single donor of assistance to Venezuelans, with a total of over $856 million.
The Venezuelan government instituted a nationwide quarantine on March 17, restricting movement and ordering all businesses to close except those considered essential.
Despite having the world’s largest oil reserves, Venezuela has little gasoline as a result of mismanagement, corruption, a spiraling, and over a year of U.S. sanctions. The first of five Iranian oil tankers delivered 1.5 million barrels of gasoline to Venezuela.
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Reuters contributed.