Page 14 - Preliminary Report on the Venezuelan Migrant and Refugee Crisis in the Region

Figure 1. Total homicides in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (1999-2018)

Source: Observatorio Venezolano de la Violencia

Compounding this situation is the fact that criminal activity enjoys a high level of impunity:
According to Amnesty International, more than 90 percent of crimes in the country are not

prosecuted. What is more, that organization has determined that “Venezuela is responsible for

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violations of the right to life and physical integrity of hundreds of victims.”

Social control and restriction of liberties

The existence or even the very perception of tools imposed and used by the regime to restrict

Venezuelans’ liberties also seems likely to be a significant factor behind the mass exodus of

migrants from Venezuela.

The use of ways of exerting social control in order to restrict individual freedoms is a common
feature of authoritarian regimes. In particular, one characteristic of instruments of social

28 Amnesty International. This is no way to live: Public security and right to life in Venezuela, September 2018
https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/AMR5389752018ENGLISH.PDF.

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