SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER: VENEZUELA'S BRAIN DRAIN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 CARACAS 001613 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS TREASURY FOR KLINGENSMITH, NGRANT, AND MMALLOY COMMERCE FOR 4431/MAC/WH/MCAMERON ENERGY FOR ALOCKWOOD NSC FOR DTOMLINSON HQ SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON CVIS CASC SOCI VE SUBJECT: SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER: VENEZUELA'S BRAIN DRAIN CONTINUES REF: A. CARACAS 531 ¶B. CARACAS 1318 THIS MESSAGE IS SENSITIVE, BUT UNCLASSIFIED. PLEASE TREAT ACCORDINGLY. -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) BRV radicalization in recent months and decreasing economic and physical security continue to push more Venezuelans to consider leaving their country (reftel A). Recent nationwide polls parallel informal surveys and anecdotal evidence which show that an increasing number of Venezuelans are leaving the country or preparing their "plan B." Some multinational firms are also packing their bags, despite record profits from Venezuela's oil-fueled economic boom. Post has not escaped this trend as locally engaged staff depart and visa appointment requests have increased dramatically. Our sense is that the number of departures, while by no means an exodus, constitute a significant and growing trend by Venezuela's educated, professional class. -------------- SURVEY SAYS...I WANT TO GO -------------- ¶2. (SBU) A recent Datanalisis poll looked at the willingness of Venezuelans to emigrate. According to the poll conducted in June 2007, 35 percent of those surveyed said that they would leave the country if the opportunity to do so presented itself. This represents a slight increase over 2006, when according to Datanalisis, 31 percent answered the question positively, and a large increase over 1996 when only 19 percent affirmed a desire to leave Venezuela. (COMMENT: Venezuela has long been a destination for immigration and, unlike many of their Latin American neighbors, Venezuelans do not have a history of emigrating from their country. END COMMENT.) Table 1: Of the Respondents Willing to Emigrate: Class Percent Age Percent A, B 27 15-24 41 C 41 25-35 33 D 36 35-45 28 E 33 45 19 Source: "El Nacional," June 24, 2007 ¶3. (SBU) The sectors of Venezuelan society planning to leave tend to be younger and middle class. (NOTE: Class A and B represent the upper and upper-midle segments of Venezuelan society, class C is considered middle class, D middler-lower class and E lower class. End Note). Venezuela's elite are both heavily invested in Venezuela and already live portions of their lives outside of the country, studying abroad, keeping funds offshore, and owning properties in the U.S. and Europe. The poorer sectors of Venezuelan society, while apparently more prone to leave than the richest, are likely to have less access to the information and resources necessary to emigrate. As people age and settle down, leaving their home becomes more difficult and the inverse relationship between desire to emigrate and age is evident in the right-hand columns above. -------------- TESTIFY -------------- ¶4. (SBU) The Venezuelan immigration website www.mequieroir.com (I want to go) has experienced a 300 percent increase in hits since January 2007 and the site contains information on immigrating to the United States, Canada, Australia, and Europe. It also includes many testimonials of happy immigrants, including Vilma from Belgium: "there is a lot of personal security, good social benefits, excellent public transport, and much peace and CARACAS 00001613 002 OF 004 tranquillity," Vanessa from Barcelona: "the mentality here is that you have to work hard to obtain what you desire," and Nicolas in Toronto: "we earn in dollars, we are safe, there isn't inflation. Why would I be regretful?" Like most immigrants, these Venezuelans sought (and according to their postings obtained) better lives; with safer streets, higher incomes, and more opportunities. The contrast between their adopted homelands and Venezuela is stark, with many referring to the newfound security and sense of self-worth in a meritocracy. Hardly any of the dozens of testimonials on the page refer to the political situation in Venezuela or to Chavez. -------------- WON'T SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN? -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Many of Econoff's contacts that are considering leaving cite concerns for their childrens' future as a primary motivation. Crime is rampant in Venezuela, especially in Caracas. The mayor of the opposition-run Chacao municipality (arguably the safest in Caracas) recently estimated that murders had increased 400 percent over the past twenty years. Reportedly fewer than four in one hundred homicides are ever solved. In addition to the lack of personal security, parents are increasingly worried about their children's' education. One of the five motors of Chavez' "21st Century Socialism" is the "moral y luces" (morality and enlightenment) campaign, which focuses on educating (or re-educating) the population with socialist doctrine. Hugo Chavez' brother, Adan now runs the Education Ministry. Rumors are rampant (and have been for years) that new laws and pending constitutional changes will give the state a much larger role in parenting; for example refusing to issue passports or identification documents to children under a certain age, or requiring State approval for children to travel abroad. ¶6. (SBU/NF) While Caracas' international schools have seen drops in enrollment over the past eight years, in meetings with Econoff they claimed not to see much change between the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 school years. A general trend involves American families leaving the country (as U.S. firms pull out, or draw down U.S. staff),but these departures have thus far been made up for by an influx of new expats from other parts of Latin America and Asia. In addition, a director at Colegio Internacional de Caracas (CIC) (PROTECT THROUGHOUT) confided to econoff that they had a number of Venezuelan families who have enrolled their children after having been "deported" from the United States. While all families considered their time back in Caracas to be temporary, so far none has been able to re-enter the United States. ¶7. (SBU) University and high school teachers have confided to Econoff their surprise at the number of students trying to study abroad. One of Venezuela's leading bankers admitted to Econoff that his daughter graduated recently from medical school in Venezuela and that only five of the 118 people in her graduating class were currently practicing medicine in Venezuela. The consensus among many private high school and university professors seems to be that, while a year abroad during high school or university has been commonplace for upper class Venezuelans for decades, many students are now studying abroad and staying abroad. -------------- WHERE TO GO? -------------- ¶8. (SBU) The United States, Canada, Australia, and European countries including Spain, Portugal, and Italy remain the favored destinations for Venezuelans (reftel). According to the Venezuelan Consulate General in the Canary Islands, website hits have risen from 8,000 a month in 2006 to over 25,000 monthly this year, reflecting the increase in Venezuelans relocating there. The U.S. remains an important destination for immigrants and a recent Reuters article estimated that over 160,000 Venezuelans were living illegally CARACAS 00001613 003 OF 004 in Florida. The article also noted the increase in asylum applications as an example of this trend, with applications up from 14 in FY 1998 to 1086 in FY 2006. In May of 2007 there were 290 pending asylum cases in the Miami district office alone. The real estate chamber in Caracas estimates that 15 percent of home sales in Florida are to Venezuelans. (COMMENT: This seems incredibly high. END COMMENT.) On July 19 Century 21 hosted a sales event for condos in Miami at the Eurobuilding Hotel here. A recent Wall Street Journal article noted an influx of Venezuelans working in the oil sands in Alberta and many of the international oil companies operating in Venezuela are sending personnel abroad as they draw down or pull out. During the week of July 23, India's Kingfisher airlines advertised for Venezuelan pilots in local papers. ¶9. (SBU/NF) According to the human resources consulting firm Marsh and McLennan (PROTECT THROUGHOUT),skilled executives are moving to Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia. The Colombian border town of Cucuta has as many as 5,000 Venezuelans living there, supposedly including a number of PDVSA executives commuting to Venezuela to work. As an anecdote, Marsh's director in Venezuela noted that British Petroleum used to occupy three floors in his building and now only has half of a floor. Similarly, AIG has downsized its Venezuelan staff and reportedly Coca Cola now runs its Venezuelan operations from Colombia. Proctor and Gamble has moved its Latin American headquarters to Chile and is also reportedly drawing down staff, including moving many Venezuelan personnel to offices in Chile, Colombia, and Mexico. A manager in the large Venezuelan engineering firm Inelectra recently confided to Econoff the company's plans to relocate to Panama. The directors of Heidenreich Marine and Essel Propack (marine logistics companies) recently admitted to Conoff that they were closing up shop in Venezuela. -------------- SHORT ON TALENT -------------- ¶10. (SBU/NF) According to Marsh, Venezuelans are willing to take lower salaries to get jobs abroad. Conversely, ex-pats are now demanding increasingly high salaries and benefits to come to Venezuela. Contacts claim that U.S. ex-pats now demand bullet proof cars with bodyguards and insist on living within a short commute of their childrens' private schools (almost all of which are in the Valle Arriba neighborhood where the Embassy and most post housing is located). This may, in part explain the surge in rental costs experienced by Post during the past few years (reftel B). ¶11. (SBU) This brain drain has led to a labor shortage among professionals and executives. The help wanted section of the daily "El Universal" has grown in recent years from four to eight pages and many firms report problems finding competent managers. One western executive recently commented to econoff that given the high demand for highly-skilled executives, he had to renegotiate contracts every three or four months, increasing salaries and benefits to keep his staff. The lack of western expats willing to come to Venezuela has led firms to hire more Latin Americans, especially Argentines and Brazilians who, according to one human resources manager, "have a history of dealing with these kinds of situations." -------------- MOVING ON OUT -------------- ¶12. (SBU) Post's General Services Office (GSO) recently surveyed international moving firms and found that pack outs had more than doubled between summer 2006 and 2007. As of July 11, 2007, one firm admitted that it had already surpassed its total for 2006 and another estimated that they would double 2006 numbers. Pack outs also rose significantly from 2005 to 2006, growing a little over 25 percent based on GSO's estimates. CARACAS 00001613 004 OF 004 -------------- POST AFFECTED -------------- ¶13. (SBU) Post has not escaped this trend. According to the human resources office, 17 locally engaged staff have resigned to move abroad since July 2005, with plans to immigrate to the United Sates (6),Australia (4),Canada (2), France (2),Spain (2),and Argentina (1). In addition, Econoff knows three other staff members planning to depart later this summer. When queried, most LESs planning to leave cited economic uncertainty and concerns about their childrens' futures as their primary motivations. Post's American-trained local doctor has confided to Econoff his growing concern about the government's role in the health sector and noted that many colleagues are leaving. ¶14. (SBU) The waiting time for an NIV interview continues to grow, rising from 56 days in December 2006 to 107 days in March, to 126 days for a visitor visa as of August 8. Applicants calling for a tourist visa appointment on August 8 will not be able to obtain their visa until December. The number of calls to the NIV appointment call center are running between 30-35 percent above last year's numbers. This has led to a notable rise in the number of Embassy contacts seeking help to move up their visa appointments. In addition, the number of "L" visa (inter-company transferee) applicants going to work in the United States has risen by over 25 percent over last year and there are significant increases in the use of visa categories that permit multi-year stays in the United States, such as student visas. Officers have begun to pay special attention to these cases as they fear many Venezuelans may merely be setting up shell companies in the United States to legitimate their desire to immigrate. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶15. (SBU) The screws are tightening in the Bolivarian Republic. The nationalizations of the national telecommunications firm CANTV, Caracas' electrical utility EDC, and the oil Strategic Associations (and subsequent political firings) and plans to "revolutionize" education that include teaching "socialist" ideology and eliminating merit-based university entrance exams have had an effect on the population's perception of Venezeula's future. The political and economic space for professional Venezuelans continues to shrink. The increase in visa and asylum applicants, international pack outs, and LES departures points to the growing trend here for Venezuelans, especially middle and upper class professionals, to leave for greener pastures. The flow of immigrants will continue to grow as spaces here shrink, Venezuelans become accustomed to immigrating, and support networks of Venezuelans already abroad are established. FRENCH