I came across a handful of Venezuelan migrant stories the last few days. I know Ukrainian migrants get all the press coverage these days and before that it was the Syrians.We’ve covered here before that spending by governments and NGOs for Syrian migrants, on a per capita basis, is over 10 times that spent on Venezuelan migrants. People may have forgotten about the Venezuela migrant crisis but it hasn’t gone away. Platform for Inter-Agency Cooperation for Venezuelan Migrants and Refugees says there are 6,133,473 Venezuelan refugees and the number keeps growing (and growing and growing…) despite the Maduro regime’s propaganda.

 And we have this from T&T Guardian. Venezuelans claim legal refugees are being deported from Trinidad and Tobago. Venezuelans with T&T registration cards, amnesty cards, and registered with UNHCR (United Nations Refugee Agency) are told their papers have no value due to illegal entry. We’ve said before that across Latin America and the Caribbean everyone criticized the US for not having open borders…until they were confronted with over 6 million Venezuelans fleeing the nightmare that is 21st Century Bolivarian Socialism.

 T&T Guardian also reported that the T&T National Security Minister says they are investigating the killing of a Venezuela migrant baby from February,6th and that the investigation is ongoing. The Coast Guard claims they only fired warning shots as they approached the boat full of Venezuelan migrants. The baby was shot in the head while in it’s mothers arms.

 And we have La Prensa Latina reporting that the Tumbes region of Peru is now Peru’s second leading migrant destination after the capitol of Lima. NGO’s estimate that anywhere from 300-1,500 Venezuelan migrants enter Peru daily.

 We also have Peru’s President saying that the immigration situation is a problem, beyond the crime. There are currently 1.6 million Venezuelans in Peru.

 And we have authorities in Colombia saying Venezuelans in the country before January 31,2021  and haven’t registered their status have a deadline of May28th, which passed over the weekend, to do so.

 And we have authorities in the Dominican Republic saying, contrary to rumors, visas for Venezuelans are still mandatory.

 And we have another item from Trinidad and Tobago. The government has cancelled the Equal Place Program which provided education for 1,500 Venezuelan children.

 And Refugees International reports that Riohacha, Colombia, population 188,000, has 47,000 migrants, most of them Venezuelan.

 And INEA reports that a Venezuelan boat with 7 passengers sank in Colombian waters.

 And Caracas Chronicles tells us that there are 8,000 Venezuelan professionals employed in Peru including doctors, bioanalysts, psychologists, managers, and journalists. (They’re not all just refugees living on the streets)

 Then we have the IGTF (Maduro’s foreign currency/cryptocurrency tax), which is called the “Law on Large Financial Transactions” by the Maduro regime, is still having problems. Businesses can’t afford the new machines to collect the tax (in Venezuela all registers are connected to the government system) and it’s still unclear who pays it and when. Consecomercio says 1/2 of the business sector doesn’t charge the tax…yet.

 Then we have Oil Union leader, Manuel Paez, saying the operational readiness of the industry is fluctuating, it hasn’t been resolved and won’t be until things “do a 180”.

 And a group of victims of Human Rights violations by the Maduro regime was heard at the ICC (International Criminal Court) and documents were presented to the court. It looks like things are proceeding…

 And Amnesty International has asked Chavista Governor, Rafael Lacava, to withdraw his defamation suit against the two Human Rights activists saying, “demanding accountability by the chain of command in extrajudicial executions isn’t a crime.”

 And inmates in a Curacao jail are on a hunger strike protesting conditions, Human Rights violations, and the relocation of 8 female prisoners.

 Then we have Telesur (government media) hyping the ALBA summit, held in Havana.

 And we have Merco Press reporting on the ALBA summit (the “tit for tat” summit) as well. ALBA-TCP, consisting of Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua, and 6 Caribbean island nations, was formed by Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro as a counterpoint to the OAS (Organization of American States). This “summit” in Havana is in response to the Biden administration excluding Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua from the upcoming Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles. The ALBA member countries say they will not attend the Summit of the Americas unless Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua are included and Mexico’s President, AMLO, say he will not attend as well. Interestingly, Peru President, Pedro Castillo, who Maduro likes to consider an ally, is making plans to attend the Summit of the Americas. No decision yet from Argentina. FYI, Honduras and Guatemala say they won’t attend the summit in the US. Maybe the President of Guatemala still feels slighted by US VP, Kamala Harris. She made a big deal about traveling to Guatemala to meet with their president to discuss possible solutions to the “root causes” of Guatemalan’s migration to the US. We’re coming up on a year now since that meeting. The President of Guatemala hasn’t heard from her since she left the meeting. (This is her MO, make a big PR gesture and then do nothing)

 Then we have the Morning Consult reporting that in the US, Democrats back “Price Gouging” bill. As we covered in our Venezuela : Down The Rabbit Hole segment “Control Freaks”, price controls never work and cause companies to produce less. They exacerbate the problem they are trying to solve. This is not the answer to high gasoline prices.

 And, as expected, the US Treasury Department renewed Chevron’s license to operate in Venezuela without operational expansion. This means no new drilling and exporting of Venezuelan oil. They also allowed renewal of the licenses of several oilfield service contractors.

 Oh, and Clingendael (Netherlands) says the EU needs to play an active role in resolving the Venezuela crisis.

 Then we have the Maduro regime continuing it’s mixed message campaign regarding talks with the opposition for negotiation on issues such as free and fair elections. They oppose Norway, who has mediated regime/opposition talks in the past, as a facilitator. They insist on…wait for it…Russia.

 And Telesur reports that Russia’s Ambassador to Venezuela announced the arrival of 789,742 doses of insulin (an odd number, don’t you think?) in Venezuela. What ever happened to that agreement between Russia and the Maduro regime to produce insulin and other medications in Venezuela? Did Russia’s invasion (not ‘special military operation’) of Ukraine throw a wrench into their plans?

 More tomorrow….