President Michel Temer said on Wednesday (29th) that the Brazilian government considers establishing a numbered ticket system, in order to limit the entry of Venezuelan nationals in Brazil.
The president acknowledged that he discussed, during a meeting the day before, a mechanism to reduce the number of Venezuelans crossing the border with Roraima. Currently, hundreds make the crossing every day.
"They think that maybe we can have a limit of 100, 150, 200 per day and every day we increase this number a little. We would do that in order to organize this influx of people," he said.
The statement exposed the government inner divergences and lack of a clear plan to deal with the influx of Venezuelan immigrants reaching the Brazilian border.
Hours after Temer's press conference, the Brazilian government released a statement trying to explain that the tickers would be used to assist the immigrants, and not to limit their entry.
"The federal government wants to clarify that the "ticket distribution possibility" mentioned by the president means to improve the humanitarian assistance in Roraima, and should not be understood, under any circumstance, as Brazil closing the border to Venezuelans," the statement reads, without giving further detail.
Temer’s own Chief of Staff foiled the spin attempt, in the early evening. Eliseu Padilha again mentioned entry control. "[The numbered tickets] will be used to enter Brazilian territory," he said.
Padilha also corrected the number of immigrants crossing the border daily, mentioned earlier by the president. It would be 500 to 600 people, including those who come to do shopping, and cross back to Venezuela, not 700 to 800 people, as Temer said, when mentioning the influx of immigrants as an obstacle to keep the ongoing national vaccination effort.
Venezuelan Exodus
More and more Venezuelans are leaving their country, and overloading neighboring countries
2.3 million Venezuelans live abroad since 2014
1.6 million fled Venezuela since 2015, the equivalent of 5% of the countries total population
Main destinations
Colombia- 870,000
Equador- 454,000
Peru - 400,000
Other exoduses
• Syria: 6 million, 30% of the country's population before the war
• Myanmar: 700,000 rohingyas, 1.3% of the country's population
• Cuba: 125,000 during the 1980 Mariel boatlift, 1.27% of the country's population
*According to the Brazilian government, half left the country towards neighboring nations
Sources: United Nations and national governments
Translated by NATASHA MADOV