Could there be a Venezuelan refugee crisis?

Several Latin American countries fear that the crisis in Venezuela will unleash a wave of refugees. Colombia wants to help, but it fears proposed border refugee camps could aggravate the problem more than alleviate it.

“Venezuela is my worst nightmare,” Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos confessed on November 9, when receiving an award in London for his efforts securing a peace agreement in his country.

“An implosion in Venezuela would indeed be a great threat to Colombia, both for the peace process and for the 2018 presidential elections,” confirmed political analyst Roberto Cajamarca Gomez, a former Colombian diplomat, while speaking with DW.

The worst-case scenario would arise out of Venezuela declaring bankruptcy. “People in Venezuela are not only dying of starvation, they are also dying due tolack of medical drugs and the disastrous state of the country’s healthcare system,” said Venezuelan attorney Elenis Rodriguez, who is attempting to set up a humanitarian aid program while in Colombian exile.