Crasto Castillo, Tomas, & Alvarez Reguant, Mercedes. “Percepciones sobre la migración venezolana: causas, España como destino, expectativas de retorno.”| “Perceptions of Venezuelan Migration: Causes, Spain as destination, Return Expectations.” Migraciones, 41, (June 2017);133-163.

Annotation: Tomas Castillo Crasto and Mercedes Reguant Alvarez, analyze the triggers and effects that characterize the migration of Venezuelans. The authors particularly focus on the causes that have driven many Venezuelans to escape the socioeconomic deterioration of their country. Crasto and Alvarez used multimodal methods, to conduct a qualitative case study of Venezuelan migrants living in Spain. They relied on the study and analysis of secondary sources, to build the context from which the causes of migration developed. In addition, they surveyed twenty Venezuelans living in Spain who ranked five different dimensions of migration: migration trajectory, education level, work situation, migration networks in Spain, and evaluation of the socioeconomic situation in Venezuela. The authors deepen their analysis by interviewing these twenty subjects, who provided their opinions and estimates of the situation in Venezuela. The subjects also evaluated their possibilities of returning to Venezuela or of staying in Spain as immigrants.

Crasto and Alvarez’s analysis of this case study was conducted outside of Venezuela, due to the lack of public access to migration records from Venezuela. Therefore, much of the research conducted on Venezuelan migration relies on special case studies in which qualitative methods, such as small group interviews and small group surveys are employed. The size of the group from which the results derived is very small, just with 20 subjects. This reduces the reliability of the conclusions of the study to be extended to the entire Venezuelan migrant population. According to Crasto and Alvarez, there are more than one million Venezuelans living in other countries (Crasto, Alvarez; 2017.) Yet, the findings of this study cannot be generalized to this entire population. Furthermore, their research is limited in terms of geographic dimensions (only focused on Venezuelans living in Spain.)

Despite the weaknesses of generalization for this case study, Crasto and Alvarez’s study sheds a light into the most pressing causes for migration from Venezuela into Spain, as well as it draws important conclusions of the possibilities of returning to Venezuela. This case study will enhance our research by providing more detailed insights into the causes of migrations, and the living conditions of Venezuelan migrants prior to migration. Furthermore, this case study will enhance our understanding of the context from which Venezuelan migration derives and will also enhance the globalization view of the Venezuelan migrant crisis. In addition, the use of secondary sources to construct the context of this case study will also enrich our research by strengthening our thesis and demonstrating the severity of Venezuela’s socioeconomic status- which make the country almost inhospitable and impossible for social progress.

The image attached to this annotated bibliography represents Venezuelans living in Spain, which are the main subject of this case study. It reflects the frustration Venezuelan migrants have against the crisis that lashes their country.  

Tags: Venezuelans in Spain; Spain as a destination for migrants; Venezuelan crisis; socioeconomic and political crisis; causes for migration.

Source: Crasto Castillo, Tomas, & Alvarez Reguant, Mercedes. “Percepciones sobre la migración venezolana: causas, España como destino, expectativas de retorno.”| “Perceptions of Venezuelan Migration: Causes, Spain as destination, Return Expectations.” Migraciones, 41, (June 2017);133-163. https://revistas.upcomillas.es/index.php/revistamigraciones/article/view/7898