NewsPosted March 7, 2022 Manaus, Brazil: Volunteers Work to Improve the Lives of Venezuelan Immigrants 

According to a local office devoted to social assistance and human rights in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, over the last two years, 7,980 Venezuelans have found refuge in one of Brazil’s municipal shelters. The last caravan of immigrants who crossed from Venezuela into northern Brazil arrived November 27, 2021. It included 89 people with a few bags and many dreams of rebuilding their lives after years of a declining economy and social unrest.

“I want to start a new life,” one of the newly arrived Venezuelans said. “We suffered a lot in our country.” The same person shared that at the beginning, when they crossed the border into Brazil, their situation was dire. “We walked all the way to Pacaraima and slept in the street. It was hard; it seemed that we were still in Venezuela,” he said. “Only here in Manaus things are improving after we arrived at a shelter.”