Thomson Reuters
A girl stands at a barbed wire fence as she waits to try to cross into Colombia from Urena, Venezuela, December 18, 2016.
Protracted political, economic, and humanitarian crises in Venezuela have spurred mass migration, with Venezuelans from across the social spectrum fleeing for neighboring Brazil and Colombia, to other countries in the region like Chile or Peru, and as far away as the US and Spain.
To escape what they face at home, many Venezuelans endure more hardship abroad, sacrificing their meager savings for transportation to places where, in part because a lack of documentation, they struggle to find work, lodging, and legal status - challenges exacerbated by discrimination and xenophobia.
Geoff Ramsey, the associate for Venezuela at Washington, DC-based research and advocacy group the Washington Office on Latin America, spent April inside Venezuela and on the country's borders with Brazil and Colombia, meeting with Venezuelans seeking relief from their country's collapse, government officials trying to deal with the exodus, and others trying to address the situation.
Ramsey spoke with Business Insider in late May, describing the bleak outlook for Venezuelans who are leaving their homes in search of a better life abroad.
The interview below has been edited for length and clarity.