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Global Health Econ Sustain Latin American Liberal migration policies

group, 459,000 originate from Venezuela, although there act between countries’ desires to preserve their
are also individuals from other continents, particularly humanitarian commitments and their desire for greater
Afghans and Syrians. control of who arrives. The promise of new funding from
The fact that a “far-right government” like the one of donor countries and multilateral development banks to
Bolsonaro adopted a “liberal” approach to the Venezuelan support these efforts was critical to its success.” 35
refugee crisis highlights that the Latin American “liberal The persistence of the “liberal tide” in Latin America,
tide” is not only a matter of “left and right.” According even under right-wing governments, might be attributed
to Brumat, under Bolsonaro’s government, Brazilian to the specific regional migratory patterns and the unique
policy toward Venezuelan migrants is hardly driven by position that Latin America occupies in the global world,
humanitarian concerns but rather by concerns closely related serving as both a destination and a source of regional and
to the capacities of the Brazilian state and intra-bureaucratic intercontinental migration.
dynamics. Nevertheless, she recognizes that these
33
pragmatic policies may represent an interesting approach: 4. Latin American major migratory patterns
“The Brazilian response to Venezuelan displacement openly 4.1. The immigration time and a xenophilic
challenges the sharp discursive, political and legal distinctions nationalism
between migrant and refugee that prevail in the Global North,
especially in Europe. This helps us to reflect about the political Three major patterns define migration in Latin American
and social effects of labeling people into dichotomous categories history: the first pattern corresponds to immigration from
of persons whose mobility is motivated by extremely different overseas during the colonial period and between 1850 and
reasons. The Venezuelan ‘crisis’ and South American responses 1950; the second pattern relates to interregional migration,
to it are illustrative of the complexities that motivate human which results from the exchange of populations among
mobility and of the multiplicity of responses that can be the countries in the region, facilitated by geographical and
adopted beyond the refugee/migrant binary.” The contrasting cultural proximity; the third pattern refers to the emigration
34
examples of Chile (left) and Brazil (right) underscore that the of Latin Americans to more developed countries, such as
“liberal tide” goes beyond the political cleavage. USA, Canada and overseas destinations like Europe.
Despite the crisis occurring at the Chilean-Peru border Historically, immigration has been a crucial element in
and the restrictions introduced by these governments the formation of Latin American nations. South American
against Venezuelan refugees, a commitment to upholding a nations were colonized by Europeans, mainly Spanish
welcoming approach toward migrants has been reaffirmed and Portuguese, although the presence of the French and
through the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Dutch was notable during the early phases of colonization.
Protection signed by 21 governments in the continent — These “immigrants” or colonists not only decimated
including the USA, during the Summit of the Americas in indigenous populations but also introduced African
June 2022 (Freier, L.F., Berganza, I., & Blouin, C. (2022). slaves. Consequently, they established a white middle and
The signatories pledged to strengthen legal pathways, upper class that gained independence from the Iberian
invest in asylum systems, and work toward granting legal motherlands in the early 19 century. Initially limited until
th
status to those residing in their countries without proper the mid-nineteenth century, immigration — mainly from
documentation while also encouraging information Europe — surged dramatically during the period from
sharing and coordination on policies that might allow for a 1870 to 1930: “This inflow of people in the six decades after
degree of control over unexpected migration movements. 1870 was thus quantitatively unprecedented, embedded in
The agreement also committed resources to countries a wider set of global movements of peoples. As opposed to
2
hosting large displaced populations. the migrations of other world regions, the vast majority,
“It was a commitment among countries in the region although not all, of those who crossed the Atlantic toward
to maintain their welcoming approach to migrants, the Americas hailed from Europe.” (Goebel, 2016, p. 4)
especially to those fleeing danger, but to also create While the United States often stands out as the
a framework for more orderly, safe and regular primary destination for immigrants during this period,
movements between countries. It was a balancing if we measure the numbers of arrivals against the pre-
33 https://blogs.eui.eu/migrationpolicycentre/migrants- existing population of the receiving nations, an interesting
or-refugees-lets-do-both-brazils-response-to- perspective emerges — “it turns out that in Argentina and
venezuelan-displacement-challenges-legal-definitions/ Uruguay, the ratio of newcomers to residents surpassed that
34 https://blogs.eui.eu/migrationpolicycentre/migrants-
or-refugees-lets-do-both-brazils-response-to- 35 https://www.americasquarterly.org/article/are-latin-
venezuelan-displacement-challenges-legal-definitions/ americas-migration-policies-about-to-change/

Volume 1 Issue 1 (2023) 12 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.0861