David Agelvis, 35 years old, arrived in Colombia four years ago fleeing the economic, political and social crisis that Venezuela is suffering. Although he found better quality in the neighboring country, today considers migrating again to other borders, given the uncertainty that represents, in his opinion, Gustavo Petro’s victory to presidency of that nation. And it is that the government program announced by the left-wing president has caused a lot of fear in Venezuelans, mainly due to the similarity with the ideas imposed at the time by the deceased president. Hugo Chavez.
Intervening in the face of falling oil prices, expropriations and currency exchange control restrictions, the welfare model and attacking democratic institutions were just some of the the measures taken by Chavez that set in motion the decline of the countryand which led to the exodus of more than six million Venezuelans to various parts of the world, with Colombia being the main recipient of this migration with around 1.7 million people.
“Mr. Petro is equal to Chávez. He has the same discourse, he speaks to the people in the same way that Chávez did in his time: focusing on the poor, the marginalized, including the LGTBIQ+ community. Taking advantage of these minorities to gain followers”, Agelvis told The National.
Among the most controversial ideas put forward by Petro during his campaign is imposing taxes on the richest citizens, carry out a progressive reform of the Armed Forcesa reform to the pension system that experts say could collapse the State, and bonuses for women heads of households and older adults.
Venezuelans
For Venezuelan José Blanco, who migrated to Colombia a year ago, this is a formula that has been shown not to work. “Socialism does not work to move a country forward, on the contrary, they simply lead it to misery while the political leaders get rich,” the 44-year-old construction worker told The National.
Colombians have been seduced by the idea of a government that helps them obtain housing, that gives them bonuses, food, raises wages, reduces working hours and lowers prices. Nevertheless, experts warn that this assistance model is very difficult for the State to maintainas was demonstrated in Venezuela.
“They think this is a good thing, but we Venezuelans know that in the long run this is not the case,” added Agelvis.
“The same story repeats itself”
Although just over half of Colombians are open to change and trust that it will be positive for the country, Venezuelan migrants feel that they are reliving again what happened in Venezuela more than 20 years ago.
“The same history that Venezuela experienced repeats itself. The Colombian population believes that they could be better off with a different government, but they only cared about leaving the right, without really seeing who they are putting in power. They only see the change of government, but not at what cost. They don’t know the scope and they don’t understand the magnitude of the decision they are making,” said nurse Abril De la Rosa, who has lived in Bogotá for more than five years.
Venezuelans in Colombia have also found many Similarities between the followers of Petro and the followers of Chavismo and Madurismo. “They tell you that if they don’t work in four years they can change their government, or that they are not Venezuela. It is the same as when it was said that Venezuela would not reach a crisis on the level of Cuba. And here we are, millions outside our country because we cannot live there,” Mariangel Hernández told The National.
The new vice president Francia Márquez assured in an interview for the newspaper Time that the situation in Venezuela will not be repeated in Colombia, and pointed out that it is a campaign that has been created against the Petro project.
Venezuelans before migrating again
Given the uncertainty generated by the current political situation in Colombia, some Venezuelans consider that it is best to migrate again. Although they understand that the effects of the policies that Petro plans to implement will not be felt in the short term, they consider it necessary to start looking for opportunities in other countries and thus avoid reliving a possible crisis.
At this point, Agelvis was blunt: “If I already did it once, I can do it againbut I am not going to go through the same situation twice, and even less so in a country that is not mine”.
But this time the search for new opportunities is not so close to home. The interviewees agree that Latin America is no longer an option to migratebecause socialism and the left have gained ground in the region in recent years.
Since De la Rosa arrived in Colombia, his goal has always been to work for a few years and then go to Europa, where relatives await her. After Petro’s victory, her decision has been strengthened. “I’m already planning my tripbecause I really do not want to relive the situation that happens in Venezuela again, “he said.
He would not return to his country. “It doesn’t feel like home anymore. The last time I was visiting I realized that it is very difficult to keep up with the economy, and I am already used to a different lifestyle. The blackouts, the lack of water, I don’t know if I would get used to that situation,” she said.
In the case of Agelvis, The United States is your main option to seek a better quality of life. “I would not return to Venezuela. Maybe visit my family and spend some time with them, but I would definitely look for other horizons, ”she pointed out.
Return to Venezuela
While for some it is not an alternative, other Venezuelans in Colombia consider the possibility of returning to Venezuela. They understand that the situation in the country is still unstable, but they value returning to their families.
“If Colombia follows the same path as Venezuela, there is the option of returning to our country. If you are going to be ill in a foreign country, it is best to return to your land”, said Nailinyer Marchan, a tattoo artist and barber for two years in Colombia.
This is an option that is especially weighed by those who are not yet regularized in Colombia. For Blanco, who is still in the process of requesting a Special Permanence Permit, when he returns to his country he would have a safe place to live and his relatives would be very close.
“I have decided that I am going to wait up to a year to see how the first months of Petro’s government unfold, and wait if they grant me permission to look for better jobs. Depending on that, he could return to Venezuela or not, “he said.
Others, like Hernández, feel more secure when they return to their families. “Personally, if I see that the situation here continues along the same path as Venezuela, I would return to my land. Although the situation there is still bad, at least I would be with my family and I would feel safer. To live the same thing that I already experienced years ago, I prefer to return home with my people”, he counted.
The young woman, who currently works in a restaurant in Medellin, urged Colombians to rectify and not allow their country to fall into a crisis similar to that of Venezuela.
“It is very sad, because Colombia is a country that has had a very dark history, and finally now that it is a fairly stable and prosperous nation, it is unfortunate that it runs the risk of going through what Venezuela went through,” he said.