Pulses and Impulses: key events, triggers and perceptions in the gears of violence against Venezuelan migrants in Brazil and Ecuador

Abstract

The crisis in Venezuela has generated the largest population displacement in Latin America's recent history and the second largest wave of refugees globally. The presence of Venezuelans in some countries has generated challenges and negative perceptions that have fueled xenophobic attitudes and, in some cases, led to violence against migrants. To study this phenomenon, we propose the model of a mechanical clock that illustrates a complex intersection of factors that comprise what we call the cogs of violence. The trigger is a key event that activates this mechanism and from it we address the construction and activation of cognitive schemes, the dehumanization of these migrants, the articulation of the media in this process, the local reaction and the political-normative results. Qualitative analysis of articles, reports and local news and interviews with key actors in the migration process were used to evaluate four triggers in Ecuador and Brazil. The descriptive-temporal evaluation conducted showed that violent attitudes are only triggered when there is a preliminary negative imaginary about migrants that, propagated by the media, fosters a scenario of insecurity that instigates violence and pressures governmental measures, so that these various impulses generated by a trigger can feedback the gears.