Red Global de la Diáspora de Venezuela and Plan País presented the results of the report Hablemos de la diáspora (Let’s talk about the diaspora), a study of the perspectives of Venezuelans living in the country or abroad.

98% of the people surveyed affirmed having a close relative who emigrated from Venezuela in recent years, with different consequences on their family dynamics and relationships that affect the lives of the majority of Venezuelans.

The study indicated that remittances have been the main form of contribution of the Venezuelan diaspora to the country, while most people consider that the diaspora holds an important potential to contribute in key areas of the country, highlighting their role in future economic growth and development.

This raises the need to incorporate the migrant population into the public debate to enable the window of opportunity that their participation represents, as well as the need to join efforts and strengthen the links between Venezuelans living in the country and those abroad.

Forty-two percent of the respondents considered that voting could be one important contribution of the diaspora to the country. 76% believe that their needs and demands should be included in the national public agenda, while 76% of Venezuelans in the diaspora distrust the country’s political parties. More importantly, 89% of those who migrated believe that they will play a fundamental role in the transition towards democracy in Venezuela.

However, the study found that “the current conditions are not in place for this to become a plausible reality given the few channels that exist between the actors in the diaspora and those in the country and the erosion of trust in the political organizations traditionally charged with channeling citizen demands. Furthermore, a perception exists of a greater violation of human rights by the Venezuelan State than the State in host countries, although 70% of the respondents also consider that the rights of Venezuelan nationals are being violated abroad.”

The topics covered by the study include the economy and the diaspora, union and labor rights, social issues and political participation. The results of the study were obtained through perception surveys carried out in a sample of 610 people aged 18 to 65 years old in 18 states of the country and the Capital District.

The survey consisted of 25 closed-ended questions that covered more general topics regarding family relations, valuation, knowledge, political participation, contribution of the diaspora and intention to migrate.

Mariana Hernández, project coordinator at Plan País, stated that migration has become a key issue that has conditioned the lives of many Venezuelans, which makes understanding the transformations and multiple realities derived from the phenomenon of migration a matter of major concern in the organization.

For his part, the director of Plan País and prominent member of the Global Network of the Venezuelan Diaspora, Juan Pío Hernández, recalled that the UNHCR estimated at 7.7 million the number of Venezuelans who have left the country, most of them for other countries in Latin America.

“We observe the existence of many myths and manufactured narratives that seek to divide us among those who left and those who stayed, and this is unfortunate because we need to find each other again (…) which is why we have been working at the international level and also through advocacy work in Venezuela to promote alliances between organizations inside and outside the country, and this report is a result of this effort,” he said.

More data from the study

  • The workers of the Colombian food delivery app Rappi formed a union in 2022 to demand better working conditions. Most of the unionized workers, approximately 80%, are Venezuelan migrants.
  • Around 7.2 million Venezuelans are not enrolled in the Permanent Electoral Registry (REP), representing 30% of the electoral universe.
  • In the field of social issues, the study found that a high proportion of Venezuelan migrants are dedicated to informal activities without any access to benefits or employment guarantees. The mental health of Venezuelan migrants has been affected as a result of the migratory grief.
  • Regarding domestic results, the study found that the depopulation of communities in the state of Mérida has significantly affected school enrollment and attendance.

The report Hablemos sobre la Diáspora was prepared by Red Global de la Diáspora de Venezuela -an initiative led by Plan País-, the Observatory on the Venezuelan Diaspora and the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. Download the full report in Spanish HERE.

Translated by José Rafael Medina