Venezuelan migrant crisis focus of talks

Ministers from a dozen Latin American nations started a twoday meeting in Ecuador Monday on how they can cooperate to end the massive Venezuelan migrant crisis that has jolted the region.

Officials will discuss calls for international funding for overwhelmed public services and whether to impose tighter restrictions to curb migrant flows in the first concerted drive to agree a common policy on the crisis.

The two-day meeting is scheduled to conclude with a joint statement on Tuesday, the host Ecuador said.

“A regional effort will help our countries respond better to these situations, so that we can coordinate efforts and provide humanitarian assistance to people on the move,” Ecuador’s Foreign Minister Jose Valencia told reporters ahead of the talks.

Colombia, Ecuador and Peru have all called for more funding from developed countries to assist their utterly overwhelmed public services.

The three countries have received the bulk of migrants flowing out of Venezuela.

The EU announced a $35 million aid package on Friday to support Venezuelans both at home and in host countries.

Ministers from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic, and Uruguay will be present at the Quito meeting, Ecuadoran officials said.

Venezuela and its ally Bolivia have also been invited, but by late Sunday had not signaled they would attend, officials said.

Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans are teeming into neighboring countries, fleeing a collapsing economy under President Nicolas Maduro, with falling oil prices and mismanagement leading to shortages of food and medicine.

“It is essential that each country take its share of responsibility,” said Santiago Chavez, Ecuador’s Deputy Minister of Human Mobility.

Chavez said that would include Venezuela, which will be asked to “implement policies” so that Venezuelan migration “can at least be adequately addressed in the host country.”

Countries across the South America traversed by Venezuelan migrants have vastly differing entry requirements, with some requiring no more than an ID, while others have toughened their restrictions to try to control the flow of migrants.

Ecuador’s ombudsman, Ernesto Pazmino, said “all governments should make their countries more flexible in order to cushion this humanitarian crisis.”