The socialist dictator of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro — whose authoritarian regime has presided over the worst migrant crisis in the history of the country — announced on Monday the creation of a “Vice Ministry for Tending to Venezuelan Migration.”
Maduro, who made the announcement during his weekly Monday evening state television show With Maduro Plus, claimed that the new migrant vice ministry will “work to tend to the thousands of Venezuelans waiting to be repatriated.”
“Many want to return, but they do not have the resources. They went from working with dignity here to washing sinks abroad. They deserve attention, dignity,” Maduro asserted.
The socialist dictator explained that the “migrant attention” government office is part of a broader “Return to the Homeland Great Mission” program to facilitate the return of Venezuelans to living under his despotic rule. The program will allegedly offer identity cards, passports, and other documents that the socialist regime makes difficult for them to obtain, as well as run other “assistance” programs and a communication program so that “the truth is told about our migrants” and that they can return to their country.
“The Venezuelan State puts all its capacity to protect the men and women of migration so that they return; it is a human right they have,” Maduro said.
“I come to invite you all, you migrants, who are in Mexico, New York, Texas, Arizona, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Panama, or wherever you see me, dear brothers and sisters, Venezuela became fashionable,” he continued.
Maduro did not explain why the socialist regime needed an entirely new ministry and government initiative to provide its citizens with basic services such as passports.
The collapse of socialism in Venezuela under the Maduro regime that began more than a decade ago and the continued human rights violations committed by the ruling socialists have led to the worst migrant crisis in the Western Hemisphere, rivaled only by the Syrian and Ukrainian migrant crisis around the world.
At least 7.7 million Venezuelan citizens have so far fled their country, according to estimates from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The number of Venezuelan migrants who have fled socialism represents roughly 27.5 percent of the country’s 28 million population.
The Maduro regime has repeatedly failed to take any responsibility for the Venezuelan migrant crisis and has continuously downplayed or outright denied its existence. Some regime officials, such as socialist strongman and alleged drug lord Diosdado Cabello, have openly mocked Venezuelan migrants who cross the dangerous Darién Gap jungle trail between Colombia and Panama.
As part of their efforts to downplay or deny the socialist-caused migrant crisis, representatives of the Maduro regime have claimed to international organizations, such as the United Nations, that the large number of Venezuelan migrants is an “invention” meant to smear socialism.
When it does accept that the migrant crisis is real, the Maduro regime claims it was “induced” by the United States and other countries by imposing sanctions on the ruling socialist elites in response to the long list of human rights violations committed by the regime. In reality, the migrant crisis and the collapse of Venezuela’s economy under socialism began long before many sanctions were imposed on the Maduro regime. Venezuelan migration dramatically increased by 2,889 percent between 2012 and 2015, as the regime’s socialist policies began to produce severe devastating consequences for Venezuela and its economy.
The Venezuelan migrant crisis also allowed the Tren de Aragua criminal gang to expand across the region and establish itself as a full-fledged transnational crime syndicate with active cells in other Latin American countries.
In the United States, the Tren de Aragua has a confirmed presence in several cities — including New York, Miami, and Baton Rouge — with specialized criminal cells — such as mobile phone stealing crews and sex trafficking networks that arrange for its victims to be smuggled into the United States and then request asylum to U.S. authorities.
Much like with the Venezuelan migrant crisis in the past, the Maduro regime has denied the existence of the Tren de Aragua and has repeatedly claimed that the gang is part of an international smear campaign against the Venezuelan socialist regime.
Maduro claimed on his Monday evening show that Venezuelan migrants had to leave their country because of the “torture of sanctions” and an alleged “blockade” of the country.
During an official event in June, Maduro claimed that Venezuelan migrants who have now known “savage capitalism” should return to their country — omitting that his socialist regime is what led them to flee Venezuela in the first place.
“Brothers, you have known savage capitalism in that world that you knew, come on, here what is going to shine is Venezuela. Return to the homeland,” Maduro said.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
