"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will help an important group of Chileans who need to return from Venezuela. Due to the serious difficulties they face to live there, they want to return to our country and we will help them to return to Chile," Ampuero said and added that the flight will take place “between the third and fourth week of November," as quoted in the statement.
“The situation in Venezuela is, without a doubt, special. The serious humanitarian crisis has triggered the number of requests from Chileans who want to return. We estimate that the first flight with returning Chileans should accommodate about half of that group," Ampuero noted.
Venezuela is facing a political and economic crisis prompted by the fall of oil prices and the consequent fall of state revenue. Galloping inflation and shortage of goods have sparked mass protests across the country, while scores of Venezuelans are fleeing the tough situation abroad.
According to the UN Migration Agency, the flow of migrants from Venezuela increased more than tenfold over the past years — from 89,000 in 2015 to 900,000 in 2017.