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 6.5 million Venezuelans have fled to Latin American and Caribbean countries, out of over 7.7 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 nine 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.
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 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.
According to the United Nations, 7.6 million people in Venezuela are in need of humanitarian aid 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 to 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. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) says that 60 percent of households in Venezuela do not have sufficient income to buy enough food. WFP continues to provide emergency food assistance, including school-based programming and livelihood interventions to food-insecure populations in Venezuela.
Nearly 82 percent of Venezuelans reportedly 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.
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 2023, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), announced that humanitarian organizations will need at least US$1.59 billion to support 3 million refugees and migrants from Venezuela and their host communities in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2024.
The United Nations and partner organizations have appealed for US$617 million to provide humanitarian aid to 5.1 million of the most vulnerable people in Venezuela in 2024.
The 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, Maduro's government and the Unitary Platform reached an agreement, to create conditions for inclusive and credible elections in the second half of 2024, including commitments to guarantee the right to take part 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, electing MarÃa Corina Machado as the opposition candidate in the upcoming 2024 presidential election. Machado was selected despite having been banned by the Venezuelan authorities from holding public office. In January 2024, Venezuela's Supreme Court of Justice upheld the ban preventing the presidential candidate from holding office.
While Venezuela is legally a multiparty, constitutional republic, the authoritarian government led by Nicolás Maduro exercises control over all branches of government: executive, judicial, legislative, the offices of the prosecutor general and ombudsman, and the electoral institutions.
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 40,9 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in 2021. 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.
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 itsl latest report, released September 2023, the UN Fact-Finding Mission found that gross human rights violations continue to occur in Venezuela.
In November 2021, the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor announced his decision to open an investigation into possible crimes against humanity committed in the country. In June 2023, ICC judges authorized the resumption of the investigation into alleged crimes against humanity in the country.
According to human rights groups, Venezuelan security forces are responsible for extrajudicial executions and forced disappearances. They have jailed opponents, tortured detainees, prosecuted civilians in military courts, and clamped down on protesters.
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.
- UNHCR: Venezuela emergency appeal
https://www.unhcr.org/venezuela-emergency.html - Caritas Internationalis: Venezuela Crisis Appeal
https://www.caritas.org/donate-now-original/venezuela/ - UNICEF: Venezuela Donations
https://help.unicef.org/hac_venezuela - World Vision: Venezuela Relief Fund
https://donate.worldvision.org/give/venezuela-relief-fund
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.
- World Food Programme (WFP): Venezuela
https://www.wfp.org/countries/venezuela-bolivarian-republic - International Rescue Committee (IRC): Venezuela
https://www.rescue.org/country/venezuela - Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF): Venezuela
https://www.msf.org/venezuela - Plan International: Venezuelan Crisis
https://plan-international.org/emergencies/venezuelan-crisis/ - Save the Children: Venezuela Crisis
https://www.savethechildren.net/what-we-do/emergencies/venezuela-crisis - CARE International: Venezuela Refugee Crisis
https://www.care.org/our-work/disaster-response/emergencies/venezuela-refugee-crisis/
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
- UN OCHA: Venezuela
https://www.unocha.org/venezuela - ACAPS: Venezuela Complex crisis
https://www.acaps.org/country/venezuela/crisis/complex-crisis - HumVenezuela - a humanitarian information platform created by Venezuelan civil society organizations
https://humvenezuela.com/en/inicio/ - International Crisis Group: Venezuela
https://www.crisisgroup.org/latin-america-caribbean/andes/venezuela - European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO): Venezuela
https://civil-protection-humanitarian-aid.ec.europa.eu/where/latin-america-and-caribbean/venezuela_en - Human Rights Watch World Report 2024: Venezuela
https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2024/country-chapters/venezuela - Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): Venezuela
https://www.ohchr.org/en/countries/venezuela - Amnesty International: World Report 2022/2023: Human rights in Venezuela
https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/americas/south-america/venezuela/report-venezuela/
Last updated: 15/02/2024