the fall of the Venezuelan economywith 800% inflation, caused millions of citizens of the country to migrate to other places abroad, especially to neighboring sectors of Latin America in search of a more stable future.
Now the situation seems to be improving and showing some signs of recovery. In March, the South American country had a rate of monthly inflation of 1.4%, the lowest recorded since September 2012; and in April it rose to 4.4%, still well below the 24.6% it had registered in April 2021.
This has made some of the six million Venezuelans who left their country decide to return, as is the case of Fátima Camacho, who in April of this year returned to Venezuela with her 3-year-old son from Peru.
“The isolation that we live in Lima affected my child a lot, we had to take him to therapy. And also culturally we never managed to adapt to Peru”, explains the young woman in an interview with BBC Mundo.
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“Also, I heard the economy got a little better and I wanted to spend more time with my family. I want my son to enjoy it,” he adds.
Although Fatima’s husband has stayed in Lima as a precaution once morest the situation getting worse once more, she points out that she is witness to “an economic movement” that she did not see when she decided to leave and that has prompted the return of other compatriots.
Oil production, the main source of wealth for the State, began to increase at the end of last year, following bottoming out in November 2020, when it fell to 434,000 barrels a day and now remains slightly below 700,000 barrels.
On the other hand, the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLAC) places Venezuela as one of the countries that will grow the most in the region this year. It estimates it with an improvement of 5% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while the International Monetary Fund points to a more modest 1.5%.
Venezuelan economist Luis Vicente explained to the BBC that this improvement is due to the sanctions imposed by the United States and the isolation of the government, which have made President Nicolás Maduro accept an economic opening.
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“The improvement is evident. It is seen that people are investing in businesses, there is more maintenance on the streets, the Venezuelan now treats himself from time to time, ”says Fátima.
In the same way, the Venezuelan affirms that she has met many people returning and that the departures from the country are less than in other years.
In 2018, Venezuela reached its largest exodus peak with 1,850,000 migrants, according to data from Datanalisis, but already in 2021, the migratory balance has been -180,000 people, which although it is still negative, it is only a 10% of what was at its peak.
So far, the State of Maduro has not given specific figures on how many people have returned to their country, so it is difficult to calculate the exact number of this phenomenon.