Venezuela Crisis

Venezuela Map
Source: OCHA/ReliefWeb

The country

Venezuela (officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela) is a country on the northern coast of South America that gained independence from Spain in 1811. Venezuela was one of three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830; the others are Ecuador and New Granada, which became Colombia. The country is bordering the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean and shares land borders with Colombia, Brazil and Guyana. Its capital is Caracas. Venezuela covers an area of 912,050 square kilometers. In 2024, the country has an estimated population of about 27.2 million people. Venezuela is one of the resource-rich countries in the world.

The humanitarian situation

Political turmoil and socioeconomic decline in Venezuela have led to the worst humanitarian crisis in South America and one of the largest migration crises in the world. Venezuela is experiencing a political and economic crisis marked by hyperinflation, limited food availability, medicine shortages, violent crime, and human right violations. Since 2014, more than 7 million Venezuelans have fled to Latin American and Caribbean countries, out of nearly 8 million Venezuelans who have left their country. In 2024, at least 7.6 million people will be in need of humanitarian assistance in the South American country.

During 2022 and 2023, there were some signs of economic stabilization and growth in Venezuela, but the country has to overcome major socioeconomic challenges due to the massive economic contraction over the past ten years. Despite the potential end of hyperinflation, Venezuela still faces a severe humanitarian emergency, with millions of people lacking access to clean water, adequate nutrition, health care, and other basic services.

More than 7.7 million refugees and migrants - one quarter of the population - have left Venezuela as a result of the humanitarian crisis and ongoing political and socioeconomic instability, triggering the largest external displacement crisis in Latin America’s recent history. The UN Refugee Agency says some 2,000 people flee Venezuela every day, displaced because of rising crime and violence and shortages of food, medicine and essential services. 

Seventeen countries throughout Latin America and the Caribbean host around 85 percent of Venezuelans who have fled their home country. Neighboring Colombia is the largest host country for Venezuelan refugees and migrants (2.9 million people), followed by Peru (1.5 million), Brazil (510,000), Ecuador (475,000) and Chile (444,000). In 2024, some 4.7 million refugees and migrants from Venezuela in Latin America and the Caribbean will be in need of humanitarian assistance.

According to the Regional Inter-Agency Coordination Platform for Refugees and Migrants from Venezuela (R4V), Venezuelans continued to leave their country in the last quarter of 2023. According to R4V, the ongoiing Venezuelan exodus is driven by multiple factors, including the country's difficult socioeconomic situation and cost of living crisis, political repression, erosion of human rights and freedoms, state-generated violence, and insecurity.

Women and girls affected by the Venezuelan regional crisis, including those living in host countries, remain at high risk of experiencing gender-based violence (GBV), according to an analysis by the non-governmental organization (NGO) International Rescue Committee (IRC). Displaced women and girls who travel along migration routes and resettle in other countries are at particular risk of experiencing GBV, the NGO reported.

Lack of livelihood opportunities and increasing insecurity continue to drive Venezuelan refugees and migrants to transit northward through the Darién Gap, a dangerous corridor between South and Central America located in a forested region between Colombia and Panama, exposing people on the move to threats to their lives and health.

In the first months of 2024, an estimated 110,000 people crossed the Darién Gap between January and March, compared to about 87,000 people during the same period in 2023, according to the Mixed Migration Centre (MMC). More than 500,000 people transited the Darién jungle in 2023, including more than 328,000 Venezuelans. Refugees and migrants transiting the area face serious risks, including death, injury, gender-based violence, robbery, and human trafficking.

According to the United Nations, 7.6 million people in Venezuela are expected to need humanitarian assistance in 2024. Among them are 3.8 million children, according to UNICEF.  According to a Venezuelan humanitarian information platform, more than 20 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.

Despite some seasonal improvements in income and food price stability in Venezuela in 2023, 2.5 million people in Venezuela are in need of emergency food assistance, according to FEWS NET. According to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), 60 percent of households in Venezuela do not have enough income to buy enough food. WFP continues to provide emergency food assistance, including school-based programs and livelihood interventions, to food-insecure populations in Venezuela.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Venezuela suffers from the highest rates of malnutrition in South America. Nearly 82 percent of Venezuelans are reported to live in poverty and 53 percent in extreme poverty, with incomes insufficient to access a basic food basket. Multidimensional poverty affects about 70 percent of the population.

In the early months of 2024, economic indicators have improved, including a reduction in inflation rates and price and food supply stability. However, the majority of vulnerable households continue to face food insecurity due to the adverse effects of several years of inflationary pressures and the resulting loss of purchasing power. Insufficient wages and a lack of purchasing power continue to limit the ability of households to meet their basic needs.

On November 26, 2022, the Venezuelan government and the opposition (Unitary Platform, Plataforma Unitaria de Venezuela) signed the Mesa Social humanitarian agreement, committing both parties to pursue joint initiatives to benefit the Venezuelan people and address humanitarian needs using frozen Government of Venezuela funds for assistance in the South American country. 

Representatives from the government and the opposition agreed to prioritize funds to support Venezuela’s health system and expand emergency food assistance via the World Food Programme. The implementation of the humanitarian agreement could lead to a significant decrease in the number of people requiring humanitarian assistance in the country.

In December, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) announced that humanitarian organizations will need at least $1.59 billion to support 3 million refugees and migrants from Venezuela and their host communities in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2024. However, the Venezuela Regional Refugee and Migrant Response Plan (RMRP) 2024 is only 8 percent funded as of July 2024.

The United Nations and partner organizations have appealed for US$617 million to provide humanitarian assistance to 5.1 million of the most vulnerable people in Venezuela in 2024. As of July 2024, the Venezuela 2024 Humanitarian Response Plan is only 14 percent covered by funding.

Venezuela LocationThe security situation

The crisis in Venezuela began during the presidency of Hugo Chávez and deteriorated under the first presidency of Nicolás Maduro between 2014 and 2018. On January 10, 2019, Nicolás Maduro claimed the presidency for his second term in an election boycotted by most opposition parties and widely viewed as fraudulent. The last democratically-elected institution is the 2015 National Assembly. 

The president of the 2015 National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, was recognized by several countries as the interim president of Venezuela, while Maduro is recognized by most countries. In 2020, legislative elections were held in Venezuela for a new National Assembly, which the opposition boycotted and which were widely condemned as neither free nor fair. The resulting assembly is viewed by most opposition parties and many international actors as illegitimate.

On December 30, 2022, the Venezuelan opposition (Unitary Platform) dissolved the interim government led by Juan Guaidó. The vote was held in the opposition-controlled 2015 National Assembly. Delegates from three of the four main opposition parties voted to remove Guaidó as interim president and place responsibility for the interim government in the hands of a committee.

On October 17, 2023, the Maduro government and the Unity Platform reached an agreement (Barbados Agreement) to create conditions for inclusive and credible elections in the second half of 2024, including commitments to guarantee the right to participate in the conduct of public affairs and fundamental freedoms. The political agreement was welcomed by international observers as a necessary step in the restoration of democracy in Venezuela.

Also in October 2023, opposition parties organized their first primary elections since 2012 to choose a unity candidate, selecting María Corina Machado as the opposition candidate for the upcoming 2024 presidential election. Machado was elected despite being banned from holding public office by Venezuelan authorities.

In January 2024, Venezuela's Supreme Court upheld the ban, preventing presidential candidate Machado from holding office. In an unprecedented show of unity, opposition leaders and opposition groups then united behind a single candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.

The Venezuelan authorities honored their commitment to set an electoral timetable and hold the election. On July 28, 2024, Venezuelans went to the polls to vote in a historic presidential election. President Nicolás Maduro was officially declared the winner of the disputed presidential election on July 29, one day after the political opposition and the incumbent each claimed victory in the contest. 

Venezuela's National Electoral Council claimed that 51 percent of the vote went to Maduro, compared to 44 percent for González. Serious concerns exist that this result does not reflect the vote of the Venezuelan people. The Council's results largely contradicted exit polls of voters, which showed González winning by a wide margin. Venezuela's opposition said it had proof that challenger Edmundo González defeated President Maduro in the presidential election. Venezuelan electoral authorities have not yet released detailed precinct-level results.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for full transparency and urged the timely release of election results and a breakdown by precinct.  He also said that electoral authorities should work independently and without interference to ensure the free expression of the will of the electorate.

According to human rights groups, the election process in the South American country was marred by arrests of opposition members, arbitrary disqualifications of opposition candidates, and efforts to further restrict civil rights. According to media reports, the Venezuelan government allowed only 69,000 of the nearly 5 million voting-age Venezuelans who had fled or migrated abroad to cast ballots in an effort to limit voter turnout.

The presidential election took place against a backdrop of years of systematic human rights abuses by the government. While Venezuela is legally a multi-party constitutional republic, the authoritarian government led by Nicolás Maduro exercises control over all branches of government: the executive, judicial, and legislative branches, the offices of the attorney general and ombudsman, and the electoral institutions. 

A United Nations Human Rights Council Fact-Finding Mission has reported documented human rights abuses attributed to the Maduro government, including torture, extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, and detentions without due process. In its latest report, released September 2023, the UN Fact-Finding Mission found that gross human rights violations continue to occur in the South American country.

In November 2021, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced his decision to open an investigation into possible crimes against humanity committed in the country. In June 2023, ICC judges authorized the reopening of the investigation into alleged crimes against humanity in the country.

According to human rights groups, Venezuelan security forces have been responsible for extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, torture and ill-treatment, and sexual and gender-based violence. They have jailed opponents, tortured detainees, prosecuted civilians in military courts, and cracked down on protesters. 

Violent crimes, such as homicide, armed robbery, kidnapping, and carjacking are common in the country. Venezuela has one of the highest murder rates in the world, with 40,3 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in 2022 and 26.8 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023. Political rallies and demonstrations occur, often with little notice. Demonstrations typically elicit a strong police and security force response that includes the use of tear gas, pepper spray, and rubber bullets against participants and occasionally devolve into looting and vandalism.

Donations

Your donation for the Venezuela emergency and the Venezuela refugee crisis can help United Nations agencies, international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and their local partners to rapidly provide water, food, medicine, shelter and other aid to the people who need it most.

Currently, there are only a few active appeals for the Venezuela crisis. You may also consider making an unearmarked donation for organizations active in the country.

To find other organizations to which you can donate, visit: Humanitarian Crisis Relief, Refugees and IDPs, Children in Need, Hunger and Food Insecurity, Medical Humanitarian Aid, Vulnerable Groups, Faith-Based Humanitarian Organizations, and Human Rights Organizations.

Further Information

Last updated: 30/08/2024

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