The Venezuelan grandparents raising children left behind by mass emigration

Caracas, Mar 9 (efe-epa).- Noris González became the primary giver for her five grandchildren when her daughter left Venezuela for Colombia just days before the first Covid-19 cases were detected in the country.

At 54, González finds herself raising the young children in an already challenging environment beset by socio-economic woes.

“The most difficult part? Supporting them economically,” González tells Efe during an interview in the impoverished La Vega neighborhood of Caracas.

“I was not prepared for this,” she adds.

Following in the footsteps of over a million Venezuelans, González’s daughter Noreisy traveled to neighboring Colombia in search of work.

She barely had enough money to fund her trip and had to leave her five children, one of whom has microcephaly, behind.

Noreisy planned to send money back from Colombia, but the trickle of support dried up when the weight of the Covid-19 pandemic smothered the economy.

González and her five grandchildren often rely on government aid for food.

Not far from González’s house, pensioner María Terán, 68, looks after her 10 grandchildren in a humble living space.

Terán’s four children have all left the country in search of a job.