Venezuelans are fleeing their country. When we last looked at the matter, about 300 Venezuelans sought asylum in the U.S. Now, that figure has since grown fourfold, and over 1000 Venezuelans are seeking asylum in the U.S. a year later. The figure is only for 2004, so god knows what it will be for 2005, but real estate agents in Miami and Houston and Calgary probably have a pretty good idea.

The U.S. immigration chief in Miami says that Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez is forcing them out, due to his tightening grip on power. People can’t live in conditions like that. When I was in Caracas, everyone talked about when they would eventually have to move and speculated on where they might eventually end up. For a country with a proud heritage, and with a huge melting pot story quite comparable to our own in the U.S., this is a tragedy.

People came to Venezuela in the early part of the 20th century seeking freedom and opportunity, from places as diverse as France, Spain, Germany, Poland, Egypt, the Caribbean, Colombia, Russia, Bulgaria, Scotland, England, Italy, China, Syria, Lebanon and other places. During the vile Dirty War that swept through South America in the 1970s, Venezuela was a place of asylum, a real safe haven for the persecuted.

Now, things are different. Venezuela has never had an exodus of people outward. It took Hugo Chavez to destroy that long proud heritage of freedom, haven, opportunity and asylum to consolidate his monolithic communist tyranny.

The story is here.

Alek Boyd has a new item about Venezuelans’ loss of their economic freedoms as well – Venezuela has one of the world’s most repressive economies, it’s getting to be pure Mugabe. Venezuela ranks 152 out of 157 countries, it’s right down there at the bottom of the barrel with Cuba, North Korea, Zimbabwe, Burma and Iran. It’s no way to live. The item is here.

UPDATE: Darcey at Dust My Broom, a fine Canadian blog, has additional thoughts here.