Odyssey in a sea of land: Venezuelan migration in Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay

Nicolás Gissi Barbieri, profesor-investigador, Departamento de Antropología, Universidad de Chile (ngissi@uchile.cl). ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5059-7691

Sebastián Polo Alvis, profesor investigador, Facultad de Ciencia Política, Gobierno y Relaciones Internacionales, Universidad del Rosario (Colombia); docente y director del Semillero de Migraciones Colombianas al Exterior (SEMICOEX) (sebastian.polo@urosario.edu.co). ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2950-6710

Angelo Flórez de Andrade, profesor-investigador, Facultad de Gobierno y Relaciones Internacionales, Universidad Santo Tomás (Colombia) (angeloflorez@usantotomas.edu.co). ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0411-9271.

Over 5.4 million people have fled Venezuela in the last decade, with 4.6 million arriving in Latin American and Caribbean countries. Most are refugees seeking to settle in another of the region’s countries, including Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. This paper focuses on the Venezuelan diaspora towards these countries and analyses whether these borders should be defined as open or closed, along with the forms of institutional incorporation or exclusion these people have experienced. To do this, it takes a case-by-case approach, reviewing legislation and analysing policy for each country. While Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay are all Mercosur members and signed the common residence agreement, which facilitated the movement of people, Paraguay has not created a special migration category for Venezuelan citizens, and has taken a more restrictive approach.

Keywords: Latin America, Venezuelan exodus, Mercosur, borders, migration policies

How to cite this article: Nicolás Gissi Barbieri; Polo Alvis, Sebastián y Flórez de Andrade, Angelo. «Odisea en un mar de tierra: migraciones venezolanas en Brasil, Uruguay y Paraguay». Revista CIDOB d’Afers Internacionals, n.º 130 (abril de 2022), p. 193-219. DOI: doi.org/10.24241/rcai.2022.130.1.193 

Revista CIDOB d’Afers Internacionals, n.º 130, p. 193-219
Quadrimestral (January-April 2022)
ISSN:1133-6595 | E-ISSN:2013-035X
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24241/rcai.2022.130.1.193

Reception date: 21.05.21 ; Acceptance date: 03.02.22

>> The full text articles are available in Spanish language, although in this issue some of them are also available in English language.

Agradecemos el apoyo del Proyecto CONICYT titulado: «Construyendo el futuro desde Chile: Prácticas, imaginarios y arraigo entre migrantes venezolanos, colombianos y haitianos residentes en Santiago y Valparaíso», Proyecto Fondecyt Regular n.º 1200082. 

Dedicado a la salud de Polly Anna de Andrade Freire