Tiempo 8/4/24: Venezuela's migrant crisis and the consequences of the presidential election

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- In this edition of Tiempo, we learn about a Puerto Rican organization based in New York City and its push to get more Boricuas to vote in November.

The organization, La Brega Y Fuerza, hopes to mobilize Boricuas here so they can build connections and create a pipeline of power that links voters and issues on the island to those in the diaspora.

Tiempo speaks with the founder and board member Camille Raquel Rivera about her organization's mission and campaign.

But first: Venezuela recently held its presidential election. Authorities declared Nicolas Maduro the winner - once again. Maduro is now set to begin his third six-year term.

Maduro's political party has been accused of interfering in past elections.

Many Venezuelans supported Maduro's main opponent, Edmundo Gonzalez, who aimed to undo policies that caused economic collapse and led millions of people to leave the country. According to UN estimates, 7.7 million people have left the country since 2014.

And the numbers of Venezuelan migrants arriving in the United States has increased significantly in a span of four years. In 2021, more than 48,000 Venezuelan migrants entered the country. That number grew significantly to more than 217,000 so far this year, according to the U.S. Border Patrol.

And out of more than 107,000 migrants who arrived here since 2023, 42,920 are from Venezuela, per New York City officials.

Joining the program to discuss all this is Renata Castro, a longtime immigration attorney and founder of the USA 4 All law firm.

Tiempo airs Sunday mornings at 11:30 on Channel 7, WABC-TV in New York City.

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Tiempo airs Sunday mornings at 11:30 a.m. on Channel 7.