In Ecuador, the largest migrant colony is Venezuelan, with some 300,000 people, of which almost 40,000 entered January of this year.
Venezuelan Marianni Luzardo managed to cross into Ecuador on Thursday after walking to the side of a route for almost 16 hours with two children, one of them autistic, and his mother in bad weather without basic services. Luzardo is one of thousands of Venezuelans fleeing the social and economic crisis in their country and seeking a better life in neighboring nations. "We have left Venezuela because there is no way to live there, there is no future. But when I got here to the border the problem was in the number of people we are waiting to cross, "he told The Associated Press. The woman added that her goal is to arrive in Peru, where her husband has been for a year. "We are in a hurry to arrive before the Peruvian government demands a passport and visa. That is almost impossible to achieve in my country. " Luzardo is part of the group of 3,000 to 3,500 people who appear daily in this town on the Ecuadorian border, 150 kilometers northeast of Quito, to enter the country presenting only his identity card. Until recently, the flow was about 1,500 migrants a day who mostly sought to reach Peru, Chile, Argentina and even Brazil.
The increase in the flow of migrants was driven by the Peruvian government's decision to require Venezuelans to present their passport and humanitarian visa from Saturday. In Ecuador, the largest migrant colony is Venezuela, with some 300,000 people, of whom almost 40,000 entered January of this year, according to official figures. On the border between Ecuador and Colombia the International Organization for Migrants has arranged 16 buses that take them directly to the border with Peru, in which women, children and the elderly have preference, and the Red Cross has established a small group of volunteers who with phone in hand offer free calls and provide refreshments. On the border with Peru, the flow also continues to grow. Gen. Raúl Alfaro, the police chief of the Peruvian region of Tumbes, told state television on Thursday that 4,146 Venezuelans entered the city when last week the daily average was 1,500 to 2,000. Tumbes borders Ecuador and is where the immigration post is located. In early May, Peruvian President Martín Vizcarra announced a tougher immigration policy and established that as of June 15, Venezuelans wishing to enter Peru will have to have a passport and a humanitarian visa to be obtained at the Peruvian consulates in Venezuela, Colombia. and Ecuador. "Today I completed eight days of travel, I come from Caracas and I want to get to Lima. Since I did not have any money, I asked that they take me free the trucks, the trucks that tell them. I do not know how I have not lost my baby, that's a miracle, "said María Angélica Martínez, a 33-year-old pregnant woman. "I want to get to Lima, there is my new destination with my husband," he added.
According to estimates of the Venezuelan National Assembly, controlled by the opposition, inflation in May reached 31.3%, while the cumulative variation in the last five months was 905.6%. The International Monetary Fund estimated that Venezuela could reach an inflation of 10,000,000% this year. In addition to the problems generated by hyperinflation, Venezuelans coexist with a severe shortage of basic goods, medicines and fuel that has plunged Venezuela into the biggest economic debacle of recent decades. According to figures from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), four million Venezuelans, almost 15% of the po[CENSORED]tion, have left the country since 2015.