Large Venezuelan Migration Sparks Xenophobic Backlash In Colombia
About 2 million Venezuelans have settled in Colombia in recent years amid their country's deep economic crisis. Some of the migrants are shocked by their neighbors' anti-Venezuelan attitudes.
Just three days after crossing the border into Colombia to escape food shortages, joblessness and authoritarian rule in Venezuela, Alexander González says he's shocked by the xenophobia of his adopted homeland.
"Colombians treat Venezuelans badly," says González, 19, as he takes a breather in the Colombian town of Pamplona before setting off on foot for the capital of Bogotá. "They practically spit in our faces."
Amid Venezuela's worst-ever economic crisis, which is widely blamed on corruption and mismanagement by President Nicolás Maduro's socialist regime, more than 5 million Venezuelans have fled the country.
The exodus began in 2014 and, since
