Title: These Venezuelans left their lives behind to escape political turmoil. From L.A., they pick up the protest - Los Angeles Times
Headings: These Venezuelans left their lives behind to escape political turmoil. From L.A., they pick up the protest
These Venezuelans left their lives behind to escape political turmoil. From L.A., they pick up the protest
Leila Miller
Advertisement

Content: I could have stuck to what they told me to do and have simply done everything they said. But I couldn’t. My conscience and my education didn’t let me.” Advertisement
A record number of Venezuelans have fled a spiraling humanitarian crisis in their home country to seek refuge in the United States. Like Saldivia, some asylum seekers have landed in Los Angeles, where they join a small but active Venezuelan community that has created social media videos, held rallies and organized electoral campaigns to support anti-government protests. The U.S. imposed financial sanctions on the country in early August, following an election in Venezuela to create a national assembly that would rewrite the constitution — an action opposition leaders have called an illegal power grab by President Nicolas Maduro. Millions of Venezuelans protested the move, resulting in clashes with government forces that have left more than 120 dead. Venezuelans top the list of asylum seekers in the United States, with more than 21,000 asylum applications filed in 2017 — a third more than the previous year — according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Many are fleeing government repression, food scarcities and a staggering rate of violent deaths — many involving security forces — that has led to its ranking as one of the most dangerous countries in the world. “It’s only going to increase from now,” said Moises Rendon, the associate director of the Americas program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “