Latin American ministers met Monday to end the massive Venezuelan migrant crisis that has jolted the region, as Venezuela's government accused the United Nations of exaggerating the situation to justify "international intervention."

The delegates from 13 regional nations were seeking outside funding as they discussed in Quito a common solution to regularize the situation of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who have migrated due to a situation whose very existence Caracas denies.

Venezuelans who immigrate "are highly vulnerable to human trafficking, the smuggling of migrants, labor exploitation, lack of access to social security, extortion, violence, sexual abuse, recruitment for criminal activities, discrimination and xenophobia," said Ecuadoran Deputy Foreign Minister Andres Teran.

The two-day meeting in Quito precedes extraordinary talks at the Organization of American States set to begin Wednesday to discuss the same issue.

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said the government had complained to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that "individual officials" have been portraying "a normal migratory flow as a humanitarian crisis to justify an intervention."

The UN says 1.6 million Venezuelans since 2015 have fled economic meltdown in the country, which has been hit by shortages of basic necessities such as food and medicine.

Venezuela is in a fourth year of recession while the International Monetary Fund has predicted inflation in the South American country will reach one million percent this year.

The flood of migrants abandoning their country to seek a better life elsewhere has left countries such as Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador and Peru creaking under the strain.

In addition to discussing a common regulatory framework, Latin American nations are seeking to show the impact that the massive arrival of migrants has on various countries' finances.

Argentina's envoy Dario Giustozzi stressed the need to "unify" document requirements for Venezuelans, who depending on the nation must present a certificate, passport or visa.

The delegates from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic and Uruguay are scheduled to issue a joint statement on Tuesday.

The UN's representative in Ecuador, Arnaud Peral, celebrated the regional effort and urged international donors to continue contributing.

The United States, a fierce critic of Nicolas Maduro's government, has already disbursed aid to Colombia and Brazil to handle the Venezuelan influx, while Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced last week European funding of 35 million euros ($40 million).

Most Venezuelan migrants have traveled to Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, but only Colombia has temporarily regularized some 820,000 Venezuelans.

With the exception of Bolivia and Nicaragua, most governments in the region reject the Maduro government as a dictatorship and blame it for the crisis.

At the same time, countries like Colombia are seeking greater international pressure to make way for a democratic transition.

Speaking at a press conference, Rodriguez said UN officials had been using data from "enemy countries" and presenting it "as if it was their own."

Rodriguez didn't identify who those officials or enemy states were, though.

"The worst humanitarian crisis the world is going through right now is that cause by NATO and European Union countries in Africa and the Middle East," added Rodriguez, who called on top EU diplomat Federica Mogherini to stamp out "fake news."

She pointed to a new UN report that stated nearly 1,600 migrants had died or gone missing in 2018 on "the way to Europe."

Rodriguez branded neighboring Colombia "pimps" and claimed it is seeking international funds in order to use Venezuela to "live" off donations.

But Colombian President Ivan Duque, who will host his US counterpart Donald Trump in November, advocated for a strategy to "diplomatically isolate Maduro," but batted down any possible "military intervention" led by the United States. </s> LIMA, (Reuters) – Colombia, Peru and Ecuador want more international aid to help manage a surge in Venezuelan migration that is overwhelming public services in those countries, a Peruvian official said on Thursday.

“Support has been given and we value it, but it has to increase in line with increasing migration,” said Cesar Bustamante, an official at Peru’s foreign ministry who met with representatives of Colombia and Ecuador on Wednesday in Lima.

“More demand for public services means more resources. There’s no way around it. We have to provide those services, with our own resources or with international help,” he said in a telephone interview.

Bustamante said developed countries should do more to support United Nations programs that are assisting migrants in South America and should offer funds to countries hosting them.

Colombia, Peru and Ecuador have accepted hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans fleeing an economic meltdown, growing poverty and food and medical shortages at home.

The United Nations has said that more than 1.6 million Venezuelans have left the country since 2015 in one of the largest mass migrations in Latin American history.

In Peru, Venezuelans receive attention at state-funded health clinics and attend public schools, and the government’s immigration agency is processing residency requests around the clock.

Last week, United Nations’ agencies dealing with migration and refugees called for more help for host countries to handle a crisis it said was approaching a level comparable to the influx of refugees in the Mediterranean.

On Thursday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who is on a four-nation Latin American tour, said in Bogota that the European Union would give Latin America 35 million euros to help with the migrant crisis.

The United States has given nearly $31 million in aid for Venezuelans since fiscal year 2017, as well as $18.5 million for Colombia, home to more Venezuelan migrants than any other country, the U.S. State Department has said.

However, the United States has not eased its immigration policy to accommodate more Venezuelans, underscoring new challenges in the developing world as U.S. President Donald Trump shifts the burden of hosting desperate migrants and refugees to places with less capacity to absorb them.

Last week, Peru’s foreign minister said that he had spoken with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about funding needs.

Colombia, Peru, Ecuador discussed Venezuelan immigration in Lima on Wednesday at a gathering of the Andean Community, one of a number of regional meetings aimed at tackling migration issues.

In a joint statement, the three countries called on Caracas to facilitate passports for Venezuelan citizens to strengthen regional security. Bolivia, an ally of Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro, attended Wednesday’s meeting as the fourth member of the Andean Community, but it did not sign the joint statement.

Peru started requiring passports instead of national ID cards from Venezuelans on Saturday, following a similar decision by Ecuador.

Some 1,200 Venezuelans per day entered Peru after the new rule was implemented, down from 5,100 earlier this month, according to Peru’s immigration agency. The figure included migrants as well as aspiring refugees, who do not require passports for entry under international law. </s> LIMA, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Peru on Tuesday declared a health emergency at its northern border as thousands of Venezuelans, fleeing economic crisis and hunger at home, continued to stream into the country despite tightening entry requirements.

In a decree published in the government's official gazette, Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra declared a 60-day emergency in two provinces on Peru's northern border, citing "imminent danger" to health and sanitation due to immigration. It did not give more details on the risks.

The exodus of Venezuelans to other South American countries is building toward a "crisis moment" comparable to events involving refugees in the Mediterranean, the United Nations said this week.

Health authorities in Peru have previously expressed concerns about the spread of diseases such as measles and malaria from the migrants, many of whom lacked access to basic medicine and health care in their homeland.

Brazil said earlier this month that the migration wave had sparked measles outbreaks in neighboring countries, including in Brazil where the disease had been considered eradicated.

Top immigration officials from Peru, Colombia and Brazil have been meeting in Colombian capital Bogota for a two day summit to discuss how to cope with the influx of migrants.

There are close to 1 million Venezuelans now living in Colombia and more than 400,000 in Peru, the countries said in a joint statement on Tuesday after the meeting. Just 178,000 of those in Peru have legal permission to stay or are being processed.

Colombia and Peru will share information about migrants in a database, in an effort to track arrivals and fairly distribute aid, the two countries said. The countries invited others affected by Venezuelan migration to join the initiative.

This month, Peru and Ecuador began requiring passports instead of national ID cards from Venezuelan migrants. Peru has also tightened deadlines for Venezuelans to sign up for a temporary residency card that lets them work in the country legally.

On Saturday, the first day Peru imposed its passport rule, the number of Venezuelan migrants entering the country fell by more than half to 1,630, according to Peru's immigration agency. But hundreds more without passports entered the country by seeking asylum.

Foreign ministers from Ecuador and Colombia, and possibly Peru and Brazil, will meet to discuss Venezuelan migration in Ecuador next week, said Christian Kruger, the head of Colombia's migration agency.

Peru has also called for a meeting at the Organization for American States and the United Nations to discuss the topic, Peru's foreign minister has said. </s> LIMA (Reuters) - Peru on Tuesday declared a health emergency at its northern border as thousands of Venezuelans, fleeing economic crisis and hunger at home, continued to stream into the country despite tightening entry requirements.

In a decree published in the government’s official gazette, Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra declared a 60-day emergency in two provinces on Peru’s northern border, citing “imminent danger” to health and sanitation due to immigration. It did not give more details on the risks.

The exodus of Venezuelans to other South American countries is building toward a “crisis moment” comparable to events involving refugees in the Mediterranean, the United Nations said this week.

Health authorities in Peru have previously expressed concerns about the spread of diseases such as measles and malaria from the migrants, many of whom lacked access to basic medicine and health care in their homeland.

Brazil said earlier this month that the migration wave had sparked measles outbreaks in neighboring countries, including in Brazil where the disease had been considered eradicated.

Top immigration officials from Peru, Colombia and Brazil have been meeting in Colombian capital Bogota for a two day summit to discuss how to cope with the influx of migrants.

There are close to 1 million Venezuelans now living in Colombia and more than 400,000 in Peru, the countries said in a joint statement on Tuesday after the meeting. Just 178,000 of those in Peru have legal permission to stay or are being processed.

Colombia and Peru will share information about migrants in a database, in an effort to track arrivals and fairly distribute aid, the two countries said. The countries invited others affected by Venezuelan migration to join the initiative.

This month, Peru and Ecuador began requiring passports instead of national ID cards from Venezuelan migrants. Peru has also tightened deadlines for Venezuelans to sign up for a temporary residency card that lets them work in the country legally.

On Saturday, the first day Peru imposed its passport rule, the number of Venezuelan migrants entering the country fell by more than half to 1,630, according to Peru’s immigration agency. But hundreds more without passports entered the country by seeking asylum.

Foreign ministers from Ecuador and Colombia, and possibly Peru and Brazil, will meet to discuss Venezuelan migration in Ecuador next week, said Christian Kruger, the head of Colombia’s migration agency.

Peru has also called for a meeting at the Organization for American States and the United Nations to discuss the topic, Peru’s foreign minister has said. </s> Officials from Colombia, Ecuador and Peru will meet in Bogota next week to seek a solution to a growing exodus of migrants overwhelming South American countries as they flee a devastating economic crisis in Venezuela.

The head of Colombia's migration authority, Christian Kruger, said in a statement on Thursday the three nations would meet on Monday and Tuesday to discuss problems caused by thousands of Venezuelans who cross borders each day and the impact of recently implemented passport controls by Peru and Ecuador.

"The exodus of Venezuelan citizens is not a problem exclusive to Colombia, Peru, Ecuador or a single country. This is a regional problem and as such we must address it," Kruger said.

In the past two weeks, both Ecuador and Peru have announced tighter entry rules for Venezuelans, requiring them to carry valid passports instead of just national ID cards. In Brazil, rioters drove hundreds of migrants back over the border.

Venezuela's Information Ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Peru's foreign minister said on Tuesday that Lima was calling for a meeting of the permanent council of the Organization of American States to discuss Venezuelan migration.

More than a million Venezuelan migrants have entered Colombia over the past 15 months, according to official estimates, but Ecuador, Peru, Chile and Brazil have also received many migrants.

The statement said the new passport measures had cut the number of Venezuelans crossing legally through passport controls in Colombia but increased the number crossing borders illegally.

"Demanding passports from a nation that does not have them and whose government does not facilitate the issuance of this document is to encourage irregularity," Kruger said.

Over the past two years, many Venezuelans have struggled to obtain passports amid the OPEC nation’s political and economic chaos.

A growing wave of migrants has inundated border towns and flooded some Latin American job markets with low-skilled Venezuelans desperate for work in order to send money back to their homeland.

With the International Monetary Fund forecasting that Venezuela’s inflation could reach 1 million percent by year's end, malnutrition is on the rise, as a monthly minimum wage that amounts to a few U.S. dollars puts basic products like chicken out of reach for many. </s> Colombia and Peru have agreed to build a joint database to share information and better address the flood of Venezuelan immigrants fleeing violence and a crumbling economy.

The countries, along with Brazil and Ecuador, met in the Colombian capital Bogota this week to discuss the issues each country faced with the wave of refugees that is only likely to increase in the coming months.

“We are sure that the solution is to not close the borders, since that in encouraging the irregularities,” said Christian Kruger, Colombia’s immigration director.

The proposed would better track crisis that has been felt throughout South America and better document details about the refugees’ locations, health, education and what services they have accessed, according to press release by Colombia’s Ministry of Foreign Relations.

By doing so, the statement said, it will allow the countries to better construct polices regarding the immigration, work, safety, health and education of those migrants.

More than 1.6 million Venezuelans have fled their country since 2015, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and thousands more pour over the border each day.

In Colombia, the government has reported around 1 million Venezuelans who have settled across the nation. Peruvian officials say there are more than 400,000 living in the nation.

As the two countries continue talks of the database, they have extended an invitation to other governments in the regions to join them in their effort.

“We must, from the sovereignty of each country, search for strategies that allow us to provide attention and identify these migratory flows and most importantly, to make them an active part of society,” Kruger said.

Colombia and Peru to build joint database on fleeing Venezuelans was last modified: by </s> By The Associated Press

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Immigration authorities in Colombia and Peru are vowing to build a joint database to share information on the rapidly rising number of Venezuelans fleeing their nation’s crippling economic and humanitarian crisis.

Officials announced the plan Tuesday following a two-day regional meeting aimed at developing a unified response to the exodus.

The United Nations estimates 2.3 million Venezuelans have fled since 2014, the majority of them going to Colombia or Peru.

Over 1 million Venezuelans have arrived in Colombia in less than two years, while officials in Peru say there are more than 400,000 living in the nation.

Colombia immigration director Christian Kruger said the database will allow nations to share information on topics like immigration status, health care and security. He hopes other nations including Ecuador will join.

Copyright © 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed. </s> MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd July, 2019) The ministers of foreign affairs of the Lima Group will hold the 15th meeting in the Argentinean capital on July 23.

The meeting will be focus on the situation in Venezuela and will be attended by representatives of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Guyana, Peru, Canada, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay and Saint Lucia, as well as observers from Ecuador and, for the first time, El Salvador.

Colombia is expected to propose additional sanctions against Venezuela, as announced by Colombian Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo last week.

The Lima Group was created in 2017 to attempt settling the crisis in Venezuela. The group includes Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Guyana, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Saint Lucia. Most member states back opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido, who is opposed by the incumbent president, Nicolas Maduro. </s> BOGOTA (Reuters) - Officials from Colombia, Ecuador and Peru will meet in Bogota next week to seek a solution to a growing exodus of migrants overwhelming South American countries as they flee a devastating economic crisis in Venezuela.

The head of Colombia's migration authority, Christian Kruger, said in a statement on Thursday the three nations would meet on Monday and Tuesday to discuss problems caused by thousands of Venezuelans who cross borders each day and the impact of recently implemented passport controls by Peru and Ecuador.

"The exodus of Venezuelan citizens is not a problem exclusive to Colombia, Peru, Ecuador or a single country. This is a regional problem and as such we must address it," Kruger said.

In the past two weeks, both Ecuador and Peru have announced tighter entry rules for Venezuelans, requiring them to carry valid passports instead of just national ID cards. In Brazil, rioters drove hundreds of migrants back over the border.

Venezuela's Information Ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Peru's foreign minister said on Tuesday that Lima was calling for a meeting of the permanent council of the Organization of American States to discuss Venezuelan migration.

More than a million Venezuelan migrants have entered Colombia over the past 15 months, according to official estimates, but Ecuador, Peru, Chile and Brazil have also received many migrants.

The statement said the new passport measures had cut the number of Venezuelans crossing legally through passport controls in Colombia but increased the number crossing borders illegally.

"Demanding passports from a nation that does not have them and whose government does not facilitate the issuance of this document is to encourage irregularity," Kruger said.

Over the past two years, many Venezuelans have struggled to obtain passports amid the OPEC nation's political and economic chaos.

A growing wave of migrants has inundated border towns and flooded some Latin American job markets with low-skilled Venezuelans desperate for work in order to send money back to their homeland.

With the International Monetary Fund forecasting that Venezuela's inflation could reach 1 million percent by year's end, malnutrition is on the rise, as a monthly minimum wage that amounts to a few U.S. dollars puts basic products like chicken out of reach for many.

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
A meeting is held in Lima attended by representatives from Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Brazil, to develop requests for aid in regards to Venezuelan immigrants, which will be sent to organisations including the United Nations and International Red Cross. Yesterday, there was a similar meeting in Bogotá. A larger meeting has been set-up to be held in Quito in early September, to be attended by representatives from 14 countries and 10 international organisations.