Photo: La Voz de Galicia retrieved.

How can we help the diaspora fully flourish? How can it become leverage for the region? How can we pressure the Venezuelan government from abroad? Is blockchain a possible solution for the crisis that Venezuela has ignited in the region? These were some of the questions that sparked a debate between Magaly Sánchez, Francisco Márquez, Alexandra Winkler, Laura McGorman and our very own Alejandro Machado (software developer, crypto specialist and founder of Omipedia).

It’s pretty hard to sit and imagine how to help both a large community that finds its way beyond our borders and the broken country they’ve left behind. Still, unlocking the hidden power of the Venezuelan diaspora is a challenge undertaken by many of the four million people who fled on the biggest refugee exodus and humanitarian crisis in the hemisphere.

“One of the conditions to be successful as a diaspora is to have strong institutions in the country of origin,” says Magaly Sáchez, senior researcher and visiting scholar of the Office of Population Research. But while the Venezuelan government denies the crisis and the migration of millions, this panel gathers a group of ONGs and individuals who set their minds to help and improve the Venezuelan scene throughout a number of initiatives.

“The immense human capital that Venezuelans abroad represent can have an enormous impact,” explains Francisco Márquez, executive director of Visión Democratica Foundation. “We want to find tools and mechanisms to integrate the diaspora to social and economic development in Venezuela. It’s about strengthening diaspora networks.”

The panel was held by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank based in Washington, D.C., focused on policy studies and strategic analysis of political, economic and security issues throughout the world, with a specific eye on issues concerning international relations, trade, technology, finance, energy and geostrategy. It was conducted by Andrés Rendón, who has done a magnificent job widely covering the Venezuelan migratory process. Venezuelans’ comings and goings may be seen as undeniable proof of a catastrophe, but it’s also evidence of how far we’re willing to go to make things better; stoically, unconformably and uneclipsably better.
