Desperate migrants have been fleeing through neighboring Colombia to countries like Ecuador and Peru in search of work. In the past two weeks, both Ecuador and Peru have announced tighter entry rules for Venezuelans, requiring them to carry valid passports instead of just national ID cards. Brazil sent troops to its northern border on Sunday after residents there burned a Venezuelan migrant camp. The United Nations refugee agency estimates about 550,000 Venezuelans have entered Ecuador in 2018 but claims that only 20 percent of those remain, with the rest continuing on to Peru and Chile. Over the past two years, many Venezuelans have struggled to obtain passports amid the OPEC nation’s political and economic chaos. With the International Monetary Fund forecasting that Venezuela’s inflation could reach 1 million percent by year's end, malnutrition is on the rise, as a monthly minimum wage that amounts to a few U.S. dollars puts basic products like chicken out of reach for many.
Colombia announces that it will host a summit in Bogotá with migration officials from Peru and Ecuador in an attempt to seek a solution for the growing illegal immigration of Venezuelans through their nations.