Deadly riots regularly occur in the third-largest prison system in the world, reports Eduardo Campos Lima, and Brazilian authorities are restricting the practice of religion rather than address overcrowding, gang activity and other problems.
The country's bishops, along with the rest of Catholic Church and the citizenry of Venezuela, have lived in the unfolding chaos that has driven at least 3 million out of the country.
Progress continues to be slow as local officials do not have the capacity to respond to the high number of investigations, and some families of disappeared persons remain wary of collaborating with authorities.
“At a time when we are facing the ‘highest levels of displacement on record,’ according to the United Nations Refugee Agency, we urge you to increase the refugee resettlement cap and to admit as many refugees as possible within that cap," the letter reads.
Venezuelan migrants, fleeing violence and political instability at home, had been trickling into the island nation for several years. That trickle became a wave in 2018 as inflation soared and food shortages became acute.
“Our own people don’t have dignity. There’s no security. There are thousands of malnourished kids. How can we offer to be a safe country if it isn’t even safe for our own citizens?”