Peru/Chile: State of Emergency Declared at the Border

Peru's President declared a state of emergency at the southern border with Chile over the weekend. Reporting indicates an initial, unchecked wave of hundreds of Venezuelan migrants streaming across the border after the latest round of remarks from José Antonio Kast, a strongly anti-immigrant candidate who is slightly favoured to win the Chilean Presidential run-off in 2 weeks.

He's taken a page out of the playbook of right wing ministers across the world in his 3rd attempt at the Presidency, declaring at various moments:

• Close the border
• Build that wall

and most recently: get out before I'm elected or you'll be charged as a criminal with financial penalties as the cherry on top. I'm paraphrasing.

This caused an initial flood of migrants (mostly Venezuelans who made it to Chile in recent years) from Chile into Peru, who responded by declaring a state of emergency. Peru has now positioned military forces at the border to help manage the situation. I've written on immigration sentiment in LATAM before, and the kettle is getting a bit hot to say the least.

The US ended TPS for Venezuelan nationals in September. Chile, Peru, Mexico, and Colombia are currently at record-high levels of anti-immigration sentiment, propelling candidates like Kast to power. This comes as the US has now amassed its largest military presence in the Caribbean since 1989. 7MM+ Venezuelans have left the country since 2014 with ~2.5MM now residing in Colombia alone. Another 40% of those under 30 want to leave.

So there are now millions of people staring down the barrels of gunships, wanting to leave, at a time when most of their neighbors are desperately trying to keep them out. When it comes to migration LATAM feels like a powder keg at the moment.