Venezuelan migrants in Argentina get sense of deja vu
Juan Jose Granados Hernandez is a delivery guy in Buenos Aires...
Alejandro Dugarte is an employee at a digital payments firm...
And Sofia Nunes is a journalist..
All of them are Venezuelan migrants who fled a crushing economic collapse... and are now living and working in Argentina...
But now they're having deja vu.. as their adopted homeland falls deeper into its own economic crisis.
Reuters Correspondent Cassandra Garrison is in Buenos Aires
(SOUNDBITE) CASSANDRA GARRISON, REUTERS CORRESPONDENT SAYING:
"There was a huge spike in Venezuelans migration to Argentina between 2016 and 2018. Venezuelans now make up the largest migrant group in Argentina outpacing more traditional migrant groups from Bolivia, Peru and Paraguay. These are people who fled a serious economic and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela which included food and medicine shortages. The Venezuelan migrants I spoke to did say that the reason they left their homes was in search of stability and now that Argentina's economic crisis is worsening, they're worried about it. They told me they've already lived through economic volatility and have no intention of doing it again. "
Hernandez for instance sold eggs on his father's farm in Venezuela until the money was no longer enough to feed everyone at home.
So nearly 2 years ago, Hernandez moved to Buenos Aires and now works as a cyclist for delivery apps in Buenos Aires.
(SOUNDBITE) (SPANISH) VENEZUELAN JUAN JOSE GRANADOS HERNANDEZ, SAYING:
"It was difficult at first to get a job because it takes time to sort out paperwork, while they confirm everything, check on your the criminal record, the whole process takes time and here it is very difficult to get a job without papers. // Nevertheless at the time, the economy was not in such a bad shape and I managed to get by while I waited for my documents. I considered Argentina had inflation problems but I was not expecting this strange, this unexpected growth of inflation.
The turmoil in Argentina worsened last month when center-right President Mauricio Macri was soundly beaten in a primary vote.
(SOUNDBITE) CASSANDRA GARRISON, REUTERS CORRESPONDENT SAYING:
"Opposition candidate Alberto Fernandez who is now the frontrunner for Argentina's October presidential election has criticized the regional demands that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro step down. He said if elected he would join Mexico and Uruguay in promoting talks between Maduro and the opposition. Fernandez's comments represent a potential major shift in Argentina's foreign policy and thats making a lot of Venezuelans who have settled here very nervous.
In recent years, an estimated 4.3 million Venezuelans have fled an economic collapse in their home country... some 650,000 of them have settled in Argentina in the last few years, making it the 4th largest destination for Venezuelan migrants.
