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Venezuelans Continue to Leave as Political and Economic Crisis Deepens

Lisa Schlein

   GENEVA - Thousands of people continue to flee Venezuela as the
   country's political, economic and human rights crises deepen, the U.N.
   High Commissioner for Human Rights said Wednesday.

   The U.N. report, based on interviews and information gathered from many
   sources over the past three months, paints a grim picture of Venezuela
   as a dysfunctional society that maintains itself through threats and
   intimidation.

   An estimated 4.7 million people have fled the country. The U.N. human
   rights office projects that number will reach 6.5 million by the end of
   2020 as a consequence of the deepening crisis.

   The report finds Venezuela's economy has contracted by 25.5 percent
   this year, amounting to a cumulative loss in gross domestic product of
   62.2 percent since 2013. It says hyperinflation makes food, medicine
   and other basic commodities unaffordable. Lack of money and critical
   supplies, it notes, are causing rising levels of acute malnutrition and
   nutritional deficiency among children and women.

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