prevented from leaving the country due to economic issues such as the Great Recession and because they lacked destination locations. According to professor Manuel Gómez of Florida International University, Venezuelans at the time "weren't willing to sacrifice their social and professional status for a lesser life", though this would change as the crisis in Venezuela intensified. Effects The United States embassy in Caracas stated in May 2002 that the "drain of skilled workers could have a significant impact on Venezuela's future". This sentiment would also be shared later by Newsweek, with the magazine stating in 2009 that "the outrush of Venezuelan brainpower is gutting universities and thinktanks, crippling industries and hastening the economic disarray that threatens to destroy one of the richest countries in the hemisphere" and that "the biggest export of the Bolivarian revolution is talent". By 2009, 9,000 Venezuelan scientists resided in the United States while 6,000 lived in Venezuela and it was estimated that more than one million Venezuelans had emigrated in the ten years that Chávez was president. According to the Central University of Venezuela (UCV), an estimated 1.5 million Venezuelans emigrated between 1999 and 2014. Destinations Many of the wealthy Venezuelans emigrated to the United States, mainly choosing to reside in Miami, Doral and Weston, Florida, while others decided to settle in Panama City. Venezuelan oil professionals utilized their trade to work in Canadian oil industries. References Brain drain Crisis in Venezuela Venezuelan diaspora