Venezuela's political and humanitarian crisis has forced 5,095,000 Venezuelans to depart the country between 2014 and should 2020. This represents quite 17 per cent of the population and is that the largest exodus in Latin America's modern history. While there's no information available on internal displacement, the size of cross-border movement and conditions inside the country suggest that a displacement crisis is also going unnoticed. The Covid-19 pandemic adds a replacement layer of complexity to what was already a multidimensional crisis, because it will further exacerbate vulnerabilities within the country while simultaneously hindering people's ability to escape or to go away the country, whether forced or in hunt for better opportunities. Years of economic decline and political turmoil in Venezuela have led to a fragile state and culminated in a very democratic and humanitarian crisis where an estimated seven million people are in need of aid. High food prices have led to increasing levels of starvation as families need the equivalent value of 77 minimum salaries just to fulfill basic nutritional needs. Alongside a rise in undernourishment, diseases like diphtheria, measles, malaria,
tuberculosis and
HIV have resurged recently. Lack of access to medicines and
health services has also increased mortality rates and thousands have died thanks to a scarcity of supplies in hospitals. Access to water and electricity is irregular at the best. Electricity blackouts have left, at times, scores of people without running water or
telecommunications causing chaos in cities. Continuous access to water is simply available to 17 per cent of Venezuelan households and to nine percent of hospitals.
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