In the midst of the deep political, social and economic crisis that the country is going through, thousands of Venezuelan emigrants around the world have found a new mission in the foreign territories that have received them: to support their compatriots and be spokespersons for the reality that Venezuelan citizens live within their own country.
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In countries as diverse as Portugal, Greece and Norway, groups of Venezuelans have taken on an active role, not only to denounce the situation in Venezuela, but also to organize actions in support of democracy, despite the thousands of kilometers that separate them from their homeland.
Comando ConVzla and its support network in Portugal
In Portugal, the ‘Comando ConVzla’ has become a key reference for the Venezuelan diaspora. With a presence in seven cities, this group not only works in the political sphere, but also maintains a close link with various associations and NGOs that support Venezuelan migrants throughout the country.
The team, led by members experienced in the fight for Venezuelan democracy, has been an active part of important initiatives. One of its most notable achievements was the organization of the plebiscite in 2017, in which seven times more votes were collected than the number of Venezuelans registered in the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Portugal.
In addition to its political work, this civic group maintains constant contacts with local journalists and politicians, facilitating the dissemination of information about the Venezuelan situation in the media and in the Portuguese parliament. Also through its Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/convzlaportugal it keeps its community informed about the latest events related to María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia.
One of the group’s recent actions was the complaint to the European Parliament about the situation of the political prisoner, Williams Dávila, who is a Portuguese citizen by descent. “We are contacted daily by both the press and political entities to find out about the situation in Venezuela and we are focused on asserting the truth, which is one and everyone knows it,” said one of the organization’s spokespersons.
The Venezuelan truth in the Greek media
In Greece, Venegrecia has become the main organization of Venezuelans by being an active part of the civil association VenEuropa ASBL, based in Brussels, thus having a significant impact since its creation to date, especially in the media field.
Since 2012, Indira Movilla, together with Rosa Marín and Marian Romano, began a crucial work by creating social media profiles to publish truthful news about the situation in Venezuela. In an environment dominated by left-wing media, their effort to translate news into Greek and publish them in English caught the attention of Greek journalists and politicians.
“At that time, only information coming from the Venezuelan government media was published. In addition, what was published in digital media, which were mostly left-wing leaning, prevailed. Two friends and I created a profile on Facebook and X (Twitter) with the aim of publishing news in English and then some we translated into Greek so that the public would have a source of information about what was really happening. We began to attract the attention of some personalities and to have confrontations with people and some influencers, which made people question what was happening in our country,” said Indira Movilla, regional coordinator.
In 2014, Movilla, Marín and Romano organized the first demonstration of Venezuelans in Greece, achieving great power of convocation just by publishing on the accounts they had created on X @ven_gre and Facebook Vene Grecia. In this way, the diaspora demonstrated that it was not disconnected from its country.
“We managed to influence the Greek press to become interested in seeking other sources of information, contrasting the news and seeking first-hand information without intermediaries. Venezuela entered the political debate, with more depth, beyond the clichés about the lack of toilet paper,” said Indira.
VeneGrecia has not limited itself to being a source of information, but has organized plebiscites, demonstrations and has collected signatures to bring complaints to the International Criminal Court. They have also worked on campaigns for the release of political prisoners, such as that of the mayor of Caracas, Antonio Ledezma, and have succeeded in getting local politicians, such as the mayors of Athens and Thessaloniki, to publicly declare their support for the Venezuelan cause.
“We are not affiliated with any Venezuelan or Greek party. We are members of civil society who have organized around objectives and actions that we want to achieve. Everything we have done has been based on the collaboration and voluntary work of a small group (from 3 we became 12) that is moved by the love for our country,” she said.
Norwegian-Venezuelan Alliance for Justice and the Mining Arc
In Norway, the organization The Norwegian Venezuelan Justice Alliance was born in response to the protests of 2017. This group, initially made up of five people, has grown to have 15 members who work actively to denounce human rights violations and the dismantling of democracy in Venezuela.
Through events, press articles and meetings with Norwegian politicians, the alliance has managed to make the Venezuelan situation visible, mainly focusing on issues such as the humanitarian crisis and repression. However, one of its most important projects is the denunciation of the environmental destruction caused by the Orinoco Mining Arc, created in 2016.
Through the Orinoco Ambassadors network, this organization works together with activists from around the world to protect Venezuelan biodiversity and support affected indigenous communities.
The group, which has its social networks on Instagram and X as @norvenalliance and @emborinoco, is also dedicated to supporting Venezuelans who request asylum in Norway and other Scandinavian countries.
“The struggle of the diaspora in Norway may be one of the most difficult, first because of the strong ideological content (until not long ago anyone who spoke badly of Chavismo here was considered a “radical of the extreme right”), and then because of the facilitating role that Norway has played in the dialogue. Hiding behind the need to be neutral because of its facilitating role, and despite our many requests and complaints, the Norwegian government has maintained a very questionable silence on the atrocities in Venezuela,” said one of the organization’s members.