The government of Paraguay announced today that it would grant refugee status to 720 Venezuelans currently living in that country. The figure represents nearly 63% of all Venezuelans reported to be living in Paraguay.
Uruguayan senator Lilian Samaniego said that out of the number, 112 are children. She made the announcement by saying:
Honouring our humanitarian commitment to Venezuela, the Republic of Paraguay has recognized as refugees 720 Venezuelans, among them 112 children.
Below, a tweet from Samaniego’s account with the announcement as well as some pictures of the meeting during which the measure was revealed:
According to the UN Refugee Agency, there were approximately 4.7 million Venezuelans living outside of the country as of December 5 of this year. Of that number, approximately 751,000 are in the process of requesting refugee status. Below, a list of the top five countries by number of Venezuelan refugee claimants:
- Peru (377,047)
- Brazil (119,244)
- United States (105,421)
- Spain (58,597)
- Mexico (17,981)
Venezuela Demands Extradition of Captured Soldiers in Brazil
Caracas has formally requested that Brazil transfer custody of five Venezuelan soldiers that were captured in the country’s Sao Marcos region yesterday. Upon making the detention, Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying that the five folders were found in an indigenous reserve, and that they were not armed. According to Reuters:
“They presented themselves as deserters and are being debriefed to see if they were involved in a recent attack on a base in Venezuela,” a Brazilian military source with knowledge of the situation told Reuters.
In an official statement, the Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs today formally requested that the soldiers be transferred back to Venezuela “so that they may face Venezuelan Justice [sic]”.
In the same statement, the Maduro government alleges that the five soldiers are part of a group that attacked two military installations in Bolivar state on December 22, making off with weapons and ammunition. It is not clear what has led the government to make this determination.
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