Latin America: the fires immediately died down, because they needed socialism to burn

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Latin America: the fires immediately died down, because they needed socialism to burn

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Ghost of Mussolini: Jun 26, 2011

fnox posted:

The fact that they have that plan doesn't mean that's happening. Like, the idea of someone who arrives to Chile on foot, that manages to find informal work (because that's all they're going to find at this stage) is going to have a tangible plan to flee to the US or America, that's a fantasy. That's if anything, a generational plan, that's maybe something they can aspire for their kids. Now, if they arrived say, 6 years ago, meaning before the peak of the crisis, and they're working a decent job, that may be in the cards, but those are not in the majority, and even they will find it extremely challenging to find a way to legally stay in Europe or the US.

I'm not saying its not incredibly hard. It is like kids who say they want to be football players. I personally have first-hand knowledge of people here in Argentina that have this as their plan. Some do not even want to try to wait to have legal papers (eg. I know of one family, been here less than a year, who's plan is to visa overstay in USA because they have relations there, and these are people with informal work who are all squeezed into a tiny apartment - I doubt the consular official would even approve a visa for them, but they have this as their plan).

Do I think its really viable? No, but this mentality does exist and it does motivate people to seek out and pursue options.

fnox posted:

But yeah the disillusion with the entirety of Latin America is very much a real thing, who wouldn't in their situation? You're hated by the entire region, and involved in a series of political games that have only caused you pain. Home doesn't feel like home any more, and neither does anywhere else.

Also to note, you can't deal with the Venezuelan consulate anywhere. There isn't even one where I live. Consular services are a known racket anywhere where there's a majority of Venezuelan immigrants, with people having to pay up to 300 dollars just for a passport renewal, if you can even get an appointment. A big, big motivating factor behind becoming a naturalized citizen of any other country is just to not have to deal with that, because even as a Venezuelan citizen who entered the country legally, you might find yourself unable to go anywhere, not even back home, since Venezuela issues passports with 5 year expiration dates...And they're running out of material to make them.

In any case, the reason why I'm even bringing this topic up is that it's so utterly ignored by Western media. Venezuelans aren't even allowed in Mexico without a visa. We're talking about something like 20-25% of the population of a country being displaced abroad, with a majority of those in really precarious situations, and somehow the idea remains that these people are class traitors. Barely anybody outside of Latin America is paying attention to this, barely any resources are allocated to accommodating them, and their host countries are growing weary of them.

Totally agreed. Here in Buenos Aires people start lining up at the Venezuelan consulate at the crack of dawn, if not earlier, in order to get in that day. If you get there at 8am you're already too late and won't make it in. Then once they're in you have to pay so many bribes. Don't live in Buenos Aires? Get hosed. I know this fellow who lives in Mendoza (almost 1000km away) had to take off an entire week to come to Buenos Aires to sort out something basic. And he is somebody with a great job, who has almost all of his paperwork, in good health, etc. Some cases I see are absolute nightmares. Regularization is such a huge step forward for a lot of people.

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The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Latin America: the fires immediately died down, because they needed socialism to burn

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