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Venezuela Migration
The most striking phenomenon in the distribution of the
Venezuelan population has been the shift from a highly
rural to
an overwhelmingly urban population in response to the
process of
economic growth and modernization occasioned by the
development
of the oil industry. Venezuelan census figures defined
urban
localities as those having more than 2,500 inhabitants,
rural
areas as those with under 1,000 inhabitants, and areas
with
between 1,000 and 2,500 inhabitants as intermediate. Most
demographers, however, categorized these intermediate
areas as
urban. The 1941 census indicated that about two-thirds of
the
population resided in rural areas. By 1950 a major shift
had
occurred, as the census showed that more than 53 percent
of the
population was urban. By 1975 the urban population was
estimated
at over 82 percent; the figure surpassed 85 percent in the
late
1980s.
In the thirty-year period between 1941 and 1971, the
absolute
number of rural people remained almost constant at 2.3
million,
while the number of persons in large cities mushroomed.
The rural
areas experiencing the most intense out-migration were
located in
the states of Táchira, Mérida, and Trujillo. In 1941 only
two
cities, Caracas and Maracaibo, had more than 20,000
inhabitants.
By 1971 there were eight cities with over 100,000 persons
(see
table 4, Appendix). In 1981 there were nine such cities.
In 1989
the estimated population of the four largest cities was:
Caracas,
3,500,000; Maracaibo, 1,350,000; Valencia, 1,250,000; and
Barquisimeto, nearly 1,000,000.
In addition to its high natural growth rate, Venezuela
also
received a considerable number of foreign immigrants
during the
twentieth century. Influenced by provisions encouraging
the
immigration of skilled workers under the 1936 Law on
Immigration
and Settlement, a wave of immigrants arrived during the
first
years after World War II. The period of the Marcos Pérez
Jiménez
dictatorship (1948-58) saw over a million people enter the
country. Many of them came to help build major government
public
works projects; these workers effectively undermined the
role of
domestic labor and weakened the position of the
then-underground
labor unions. Many saw the government's 1959 suspension of
Pérez's immigration policy as a reflection of the
bitterness felt
by some groups toward these immigrant workers.
Immigrants to Venezuela tended to come from a fairly
small
number of countries. About 30 percent of the foreign-born
were
Colombians. Spaniards accounted for about 25 percent of
the
total, Italians and Portuguese about 15 percent each. The
balance
of immigrants came from the Middle East, Chile, Uruguay,
Argentina, or Cuba. Many of these were political or
economic
refugees who found both economic opportunity and a
democratic
haven in Venezuela.
In addition to the officially recognized immigrants
entering
the country, many Colombians (and a far smaller number of
Brazilians) have entered illegally. Although the actual
number
was unknown, it probably ranged between 500,000 and
1,000,000
indocumentados (undocumented or illegal aliens).
These
indocumentados suffered exploitation and
discrimination;
many Venezuelans considered them criminal elements. In
reality,
most crossed the border simply in search of better
economic
conditions. Most of them, farm or urban laborers, came in
response to the lure of salaries several times as high as
those
prevailing in Colombia. Others were seasonal workers;
about
15,000 reportedly entered each year to work as field hands
during
the harvest season. Still others entered to take jobs on
farms or
in factories for a longer time, but with the intention of
eventually returning home. Most did stay, however,
particularly
in the northwestern states of Táchira and Zulia, where
most of
the border crossings took place. Some eventually migrated
farther
into the country, to Maracaibo or Caracas. Maracaibo
hosted the
largest urban concentration of Colombian
indocumentados,
who found work in the construction, petroleum, and other
industries.
The illegal migration reportedly slowed down somewhat
in the
1980s as a result of Venezuela's extended period of
economic
depression. Jobs became scarcer, and more Venezuelans
found
themselves seeking employment in occupations they had
previously
considered beneath their dignity. At the same time,
complaints of
mistreatment from Colombians in Venezuela increased, and a
growing number of Colombian migrants apparently opted to
travel
to the United States.
Data as of December 1990
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