LIMA (Realist English). President José Jerí announced Friday that Peru will impose a state of emergency along its southern border and deploy additional armed forces, responding to a growing wave of Venezuelan migrants moving north from Chile as anti-immigrant sentiment escalates during Chile’s presidential campaign.
For years, Peru has been a major transit point for hundreds of thousands of migrants seeking safety or economic stability in Chile, one of the region’s wealthiest nations. But many Venezuelans without legal status in Chile are now abandoning the country as it prepares to adopt tougher immigration policies.
The frontrunner in Chile’s December 14 presidential runoff, hard-right candidate José Antonio Kast, has built his campaign around fears of rising crime and migration from Venezuela. In a video filmed last week at Chile’s desert frontier with Peru, he warned undocumented migrants to leave immediately: “You have 111 days to leave Chile voluntarily. If not, we will stop you, detain you, expel you.”
Images of families hurrying toward Peru with their belongings in garbage bags and backpacks circulated widely, prompting Jerí to travel to the border region and reinforce security operations. Residents in northern Chile reported chaotic scenes as migrants who left Chile but lacked permission to enter Peru became trapped in limbo.
Jerí convened his Cabinet on Friday to formalize the state of emergency. However, there is still no clear count of how many Venezuelans have decided to depart Chile amid Kast’s threats of mass deportations and what immigration lawyers describe as a rise in xenophobia.
Kast released another video Friday repeating his warnings and urging President Gabriel Boric to intervene. Peru’s foreign minister Hugo de Zela dismissed Kast’s remarks, noting that a candidate “cannot speak on behalf of the Chilean government.”
Chile’s Minister of Security Luis Cordero, asked whether Kast’s rhetoric contributed to the migrant outflow, responded: “Rhetoric sometimes has consequences. People cannot be used as a means to create controversy for the elections. Our priority is to prevent a humanitarian crisis.”
