This book examines changing dynamics of intraregional migration in South America
in light of on-going political, economic, and social transformations. The book
focuses on migration within the region departing from the still-prevalent trend to
study South-North direction, particularly migration to Europe and the United States.
Indeed, South America has undergone several transformations in the dynamics
of its international migration flows. While the second half of the twentieth century
was characterized by South-North migration, particularly from the Andean Region
to the US and Europe; and by transborder migrations within Latin America, the
twenty-first century brought about an important diversification of destinations and
added complexity to the structural causes of migration as well as to migrants' motivations
and decision-making to migrate. The States' responses to this new situation
also evolved in different ways.
From 2000 onwards, the region witnessed an important growth of forced migration,
particularly from Colombia. They were fleeing from social and political violence
that has not ceased. In addition, from 2010 on, Caribbean migration from
Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic started arriving in countries it had never
reached before, and migration from Asia and Africa increasingly arrived in the
region through various means. More recently, the Venezuelan exodus to the whole
continent encapsulated the new complexity of migration patterns in South America.
Indeed, Venezuelan migration was massive and responded to multiple drivers, from
economic scarcity to social violence.
