caracas/san cristobal venezuela early last year leandro colmenares sell car apartment flee venezuela profound economic crisis join wave emigration latin american countries colmenares medical equipment repairman first set panama 7,000 hand could get visa struggle find work end odd job like paint house electrical wire 25 day venezuela rub shoulder doctor months late mop floor panama furniture shop say colmenares two sons include one disable try luck colombia take odd job mostly cook open small cafe venezuelans fail bad go hungry weekend eat say could get visa crush run money colmenares decide february choice return venezuela empty-handed bus one apparently grow number venezuelan emigrants force go home fail start new life elsewhere latin america recent migrants often poor hop bus latin american capitals little hundred dollars scant prospect find decent job country leave bad come back bad say colmenares note steep price ever less food store shelve spend days home poor central caracas scrap live make dough corn patties decades world war ii venezuela flourish oil economy make destination mass immigration southern europe portuguese bakeries spanish bar common sight across caracas 18 years socialist rule increase crime economic decay political protest prompt emigration miami madrid rest latin america sociologist tomas paez estimate million venezuelans leave country 30 million accelerate last two years opec member recession worsen lead shortages vital medicine food runaway inflation lack formal job early diaspora mostly middle-class phenomenon recent migrants likely poor heighten chance struggle data returnees reuters interview 10 venezuelans emigrate president nicolas maduro take office 2013 return miguel blanco caracas-based sociologist degree poverty among people leave country lead return migration trigger push factor lead migrant fail lack money say blanco pocket venezuelan economic migrants relatively rare sight south america spring cities bogota santiago de chile often see hawk traditional corn patties streets offer door-to-door beauty treatments panama head migration say august 2,000 venezuelans set every week compare 500 600 august maduro government create legislative superbody widely condemn opposition countries power grab 60,000 venezuelans already panama government implement visa entry requirement peru estimate first half 2017 40,000 venezuelans enter country venezuelan government supporters say extent emigration exaggerate maduro administration scoff leave selfish unpatriotic information ministry respond request data colombia share porous border 2,219 kilometers venezuela estimate 36,000 venezuelans enter daily 2,000 immediately return country gerson lopez 30-year-old graphic designer say pay less colombian beauty product company legal document informal work exploitative say lopez venezuelans work colombians want lopez break return venezuela late january unable find good work bogota think hard go leave say add bitterly opportunities survive visa bad job venezuelan emigrants reluctantly return home