The president-elect of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, on Monday, April 12, promised to regularize the tens of thousands of Venezuelans who fled the economic crisis in their country, the day after his presidential victory.
This former banker, conservative, invoked during a press conference
“humanitarian reasons”
which oblige Ecuador to take this decision.
"Without doubt, this implies greater pressure for the Ecuadorian economy at a time when there are no jobs for Ecuadorians, but we will call for international financial assistance,"
assured Guillermo Lasso.
According to the authorities, some 350,000 Venezuelans live in Ecuador, the majority in the province of Pichincha, where the capital Quito is located.
The United Nations estimates that 5.4 million Venezuelans have left their country, more than half of whom are undocumented.
Since 2019, when Ecuador began to regularize their situation, some 192,000 Venezuelans have received humanitarian visas valid for two years, and renewable for only one year.
Guillermo Lasso also indicated that he would invite to his inauguration ceremony on May 24 the Venezuelan opponent Juan Guaido, recognized by a large part of the international community as the legitimate president of Venezuela, and not the current president, Nicolás Maduro. .
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