RemittancesGateway.org

Colombian ex-pats thinking of returning home as remittances drop in value

Saturday, 19 June 2010 19:29

Source: VHeadline.com
By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

According to AFP report, thousands of Colombians are ready to return home. Those expressing a desire to up sticks have been in Venezuela for a little more than five years.

The reasons given during interviews are money and insecurity. The majority came to oil-rich Venezuela to earn money to send home but they are now beginning to feel the pinch as recession is in full flow here.

The money sent home to Colombia, ex-pats complained, has been affected by government control. Formerly, it was possible to search around for an agency that would give a higher exchange rate than the official.

Since 2003 remittances must be done via state agencies requiring more and more documents.

Venezuelans By Choice organization member, Martha Baron said more than 350,000 Colombians send money home but things are getting tighter and the money doesn't stretch as it did before.

The other complaint, she stated, is harassment by the National Guard in border areas who extort citizens.

The recent problems between the two governments has not helped either but Colombians who have been longer in the country declare that they will not leave unless the economic situation gets worse.

The majority of Colombians in Venezuela that voted in the first round of Colombian presidential elections voted for the hard-line Juan Manuel Santos and it appears that they will repeat the pattern on June 20 during the second round count.