Entre o fechamento e a abertura: política migratória de admissão para nacionais venezuelanos na América do Sul

Abstract

The Venezuelan migration crisis is an unprecedented migratory phenomenon in Latin America and currently is the second largest migration movement in the world after Syria. When widescale Venezuelan migration began, the receiving countries in the region did not require visas from Venezuelans; the regional reception was thus considered to be positive compared to responses to migratory crises in other parts of the world. Over time, however, countries have diversified their responses, with some keeping low entry requirements while others impose entry restrictions, like visa requirements, on Venezuelans. To better understand this change, this thesis investigates, from a comparative perspective, admission migration policies towards Venezuelans implemented by the Latin American countries that have received the most of these immigrants. Three countries -Peru, Ecuador, and Chile -have changed entry rules by imposing visa requirements on these immigrants, while others -Colombia, Brazil and Argentina -have not. This research aims to identify factors that may have influenced decisions regarding the admission of Venezuelans. The main argument is that the number of immigrants and shared borders were the crucial determinants in a country's decision on whether to impose a visa requirement on Venezuelans, although other factors were also present, such as foreign policy interests, internal political crises, perception of migration, immigrants' profiles, previous experience as a destination country, previous migration policies and common migratory history. Furthermore, the findings of this research challenge the "reverse paradox", a conceptual framework that has contributed in recent years to the understanding of migration policy in Latin America.