Brazil sends troops to Venezuela border to restore calm amid influx of migrants
Brazilian President Michel Temer has ordered the deployment of the military to the chaotic border with Venezuela, where migrants have been pouring in to escape an acute economic crisis in their home country.
President Temer signed a decree on Tuesday to deploy military troops to the crisis-hit border state of Roraima, where an influx of Venezuelan migrants has caused unrest.
“The problem of Venezuela is no longer one of internal politics. It is a threat to the harmony of the whole continent,” Temer said in a televised announcement.
He said the troops would restore law and order to the border region and make sure that the economic migrants are also guaranteed safety.
Earlier, a stabbing and robbing incident in the Brazilian frontier town of Pacaraima in Roraima angered locals, who then pushed the Venezuelan migrants back across the border.
Temer’s announcement came after immigration officials from Brazil, Peru, and Colombia met in the Colombian capital, Bogota, for a summit to discuss how to cope with the influx of economic migrants from Venezuela.
Peru has declared a 60-day health emergency in two provinces on its northern border. The emergency decree, published in the Peruvian government’s official gazette, cited an “imminent danger” of a measles epidemic.
The United Nations (UN)’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) also raised the alarm about the outflow of migrants from Venezuela. In a warning published by the IOM, it said that the influx of Venezuelans to other Latin American countries was creating a “crisis moment” similar to events involving refugees crossing the Mediterranean over to Europe.
Venezuela, once Latin America’s richest nation, has been battling hyperinflation at levels unmatched by any other country. About 2.3 million Venezuelans have left their home country since 2015.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has launched a series of economic plans in an attempt to curb the economic difficulties. He recently dropped five zeros from the country’s old banknotes. He has also launched a plan to convince the migrants to return home.
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