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COVID-19 – and the restrictions and wider humanitarian crises it is creating – are deepening needs inside Venezuela, driving new humanitarian, political and economic crises for
the country, and compounding one of the largest external displacements in the world.
Venezuela is five years into a spiraling economic crisis that has devastated the health system, massively increased food insecurity, caused catastrophic shortages of basic items and triggered one of the largest displacement crises in the world. COVID-19 restrictions leave Venezuelans stuck in limbo as needs deepen inside the country but they are unable to leave to seek safety or services abroad. Meanwhile, lockdowns in Latin America are forcing displaced Venezuelans to return home to a country unable to meet existing needs. As the pandemic exacerbates the existing economic crisis, it is likely to fuel greater social unrest. Venezuela has moderate quantitative scores on Watchlist due to extremely limited official data but maintains a high ranking due to the ̽»¨¾«Ñ¡â€™s qualitative analysis of the situation and indicators of rising need.