Angelina Jolie was out with three of her kids (Viv, Knox and Pax) in LA over the weekend, but I heard that soon after that little LA pap stroll, she flew out of LA and went down to Peru. Jolie has business in Peru because of her Special Envoy for the UNHCR position, and she wanted to draw some kind of un-Deplorable attention to the growing Venezuelan refugee crisis. Venezuelans are leaving their country in droves and traveling north, south or west in makeshift caravans. Donald Trump has become obsessed with one of these caravans, wielding the racist lie of “brown people are going to invade White America.” Peru has been hosting thousands of Venezuelan refugees, and so that’s where Angelina went – to see the conditions of the refugee camps, to speak with the refugees and with representatives of Peru’s government. She ended up meeting with Peruvian Foreign Minister Nestor Popolizio and doing a joint press conference with him in Lima, at one of the government buildings. Her statement:
“I spent the last two days in Lima and at the border in Tumbes, where thousands of Venezuelans are entering on a daily basis. This region is facing one of the largest mass migrations in its history. The crisis is all the more shocking for being predictable and preventable.”
“Every Venezuelan I met described the situation in their country as desperate…None of the Venezuelans I met want charity. They want an opportunity to help themselves. The message that I heard consistently was, ‘We didn’t want to leave, we had to leave.’ After having spoken to so many people, it is clear to me that this is not movement by choice.”
In the statement, she describes the drastic changes the refugees have gone through since coming to the new country, like a man who was a lawyer in Venezuela just a few months ago but now works in a t-shirt factory to send money home for his family. “As in nearly every displacement crisis, the countries that have fewer resources are being asked to do the most. I want to thank the people of Peru for their generous and resilient response to this difficult situation.”
Jolie then makes the connection to refugee instances happening not just in Venezuela and Peru, but around the world. According to the release, 68.5 million people have been displaced worldwide, with one person being forcibly displaced every two seconds due to persecution or conflict in the area. She calls on others to get involved in the global issue by ensuring the correct systems are in place for those struggling with such situations. “Most of all, wherever we live, we need our governments to do more to address the conflict and insecurity that is creating refugees, so that people can return to their countries. In my experience the vast majority of refugees want to do just that: they want to return home.”
“I have been deeply touched by the dignity and strength of the Venezuelan refugees I have met on this visit, and by the warmth and generosity of the Peruvian people. Thank you very much for welcoming me to your beautiful country. Tu causa es mi causa.”
“Tu causa es mi causa” is “Your cause is my cause.” She’s absolutely right about the countries with already struggling economies and struggling infrastructures being asked to do the most in refugee crises. For all of Trump’s bitching and moaning and racist fearmongering, the truth is that the one caravan he’s currently obsessed with is just a drop in the bucket of the ongoing Latin/South American refugee crisis. Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Ecuador and Colombia are all struggling to deal with the influx of thousands of refugees too. I’m not going to pretend to have the answers to these problems, and Angelina doesn’t have the solutions either – she’s just trying humanize the problem so that the racist rhetoric isn’t the only thing people are hearing. One thing I do know is that the answer isn’t “cutting off aid to countries hosting refugees and throwing refugees in cages on the border.”
Photos courtesy of Getty, Backgrid.
Its terribly sad to see the refugee crisis expand in south America.
If they manage to cross up to Canada, I’ll f*cking join them. I am *deep* in Trump country in the PNW. Only the thing here is that we actually have militias. We have polygamous, terrorist cults (Bundy family, anyone?). Like….there are probably thousands of undocumented people (NOT migrants) in this part of my state alone, because they are extreme religious nutters who live off-grid. The neighbors two doors down drive a big-ass truck with two huge American flags (fortunately nothing confederate, but those exist everywhere here, too) AND a “Jim” crow scare crow. No joke, there is a f*cking blackface scarecrow as their Halloween decorations. My partner is trans, we live with religious family. It’s terrifying and there is ZERO hope of getting out of here. The unemployment rate in this town is probably 30 or 40%. There are not jobs. Housing in the PNW is ruinously expensive. Even couples who both work struggle to afford a single bedroom house.
I’d join them. There is no where to go, though.
I hope you and your partner keep safe.
I hope you and your partner will be safe long term – Canada isn’t a garden of eden, but I do hope we start accepting more asylum seekers from the US because it’s dangerous and deadly down there for POC and members of the LGBTQTT community. Much love.
What is happening in Venezuela is quite appalling and its a pity not enough is being said about it
On a superficial note she looks so good and well rested the Foreign minister couldn’t take his eyes of her.
Au contraire, lots is being said about it by the RWNJs, who are screaming about the “Demonrats” wanting to turn America into the next “socialist Venezuela”, whilst being simultaneously entirely beholden to vulture capitalism and special interest groups. It’s a Schroedinger thing.
Nevermind that the failure of the economy was due entirely to corruption and 95% of their income coming from the extraction of oil, a commodity with a somewhat variable selling price…
That’s not the reason why their economy failed. There’s big corruption in almost all South American countries and you don’t see any of the others suffer like Venezuela is at the moment. An old fashioned socialist regime with almost no democracy is what’s destroyed that country.
I’m glad she’s putting a face on the situation. Terrible times.
I love her. She’s a great role model, not just for people in general, but celebrities who want to make a difference as well.
The United Nations Instagram posted about her as well, and I’m always happy to see her do the good work.
Hmmm. I wonder how long it will take Brad to start crapping on her?
you know it will happen as soon as yesterday
The draft is ready to go to his regular cohorts.
A true Queen and Diplomat. Angelina is a Good Human Being.
The people of Venezuela are being killed. That’s the plain truth. There is no freedom, no democracy, in Venezuela. Venezuelans have been leaving in exile for over 4 years now. The poorest of them are now leaving, too, however way they can. Their Passports and IDs are being held from them unless they pay exorbitant fees in USD (the minimum wage is something around USD1).
The migration has collapsed the borders with Brazil and Colombia. Some countries are now turning them away because they either don’t have ID with them or because they simply can’t accommodate them.
Hundreds of thousands Venezuelans entry Argentina PER DAY. They have refugee status here.
The region, besides Ecuador and other Central American countries, have denounced Maduro’s regime. They’ve been expelled from our economic block for violating Human Rights. Unfortunately it seems the only solution is military intervention led by the US in agreement with the whole continent.
Maduro is a puppet – even if he steps down or is removed, the military junta will still hold power and designate another idiot. The Opposition is in exile or in chains.
If you find this situation unbearable to even imagine, please contact your government representative to ask for help on their behalf. Families are being torn apart, there is no medicine, people are dying of hunger and no one except South America and the US is paying attention.
Politicians in UK (Corbyn) and Italy (Di Battista, Movement 5S) have taken Venezuela as an example of ‘democracy’. I doubt some local governments here in Europe want to pay attention to the plight of a country they are bringing up constantly as an example to follow!
Mind you, the British Medical Association yesterday told us to stock up medicines before Brexit date and then in front of another committee British authorities are thinking to book charter ships to feed us from March 30th 2019 onwards.
So maybe we are not that far from having Venezuelan issues here in UK. World has gone mad.
I can’t believe Corbyn! I would love to book him a one way ticket to caracas so that he may enjoy what good democracy is like! The sheer ignorance makes me rage.
Italy has always fallen on the fascist bandwagon but I’m surprised at Britain.
Hopefully Brexit won’t mess things up too badly for Britons and inmigrants. The world does extend beyond Europe and you can have new trade partners.
Question SilverUnicorn if you don’t mind. On the weekend there was a 700,000 strong crowd gathered to protest Brexit and demand another vote. Do they stand any chance of getting another vote, or is it to far gone to stop Brexit now?
On another note, the thought that you will require ships to bring food from other countries must be more than a little terrifying when contemplating your future and that of your children.
Any chance Britain will rejoin the EU in the future?
The US won’t do anything cause they buy Venezuelan oil. The other South American countries won’t go to war because, let’s face it, nobody wants to go to war. As a Brazilian, I believe the country holds responsability on it because the past goverment supported Chavez and Maduro, both politically and financially. We’re going through elections right now and one of the biggest complains against the left party is their support of Maduro and their political and economical plans that resemble the Venezuelan one. That said, it’s a problem for Brazil also because we’re in an economical crisis and the state in the border of Venezuela is extremely poor and has no conditions to absorb the immigration.
🙄 I bet you support that fascist who will be the next president…
Good for Angie. The media doesn’t really care though. They only seem to care and focus on what our horrible POTUS is talking about. They need to give him less air time and focus on real problems not his LIES.
She is such an inspiration.
I love her and her hard working bringing light to situations that show the sadness of these type of crisis. I wonder how her dad feels about her different politics? As per brad he doesn’t care about anything other than filming and blaming other people for his F ups.
His humanitarian days have came and gone once he got tired of pretending. This MIR mess is enough for him to clean up. He only got involved because he was trying to compete with his new missus. That is something Ive noticed about him. He is a geico. When his brother went into the photography business he goes into an interview talking about how his love pf photography. BP can never be outdone. Even goes onto her movie claiming the photog role. Went as far as taking pics of Angelina and releasing them as his personal photos of her in W mag. He is such a pretentious douche that it is pathetic.
Even had her co signing his BS with this excerpt;
Pitt was approached by W Magazine and asked to take the photos, and it’s clear why – in their interview with Jolie, she explains Pitt’s photo hobby: “I love his photography. Some people have a hobby, and they find the quickest way to it and are very pleased with the outcome right away. But he’s someone who will really study the camera—he’ll get the most complicated one and really understand the science behind it. And he’s very critical of his own work.”
ROTFL, I can understand why people felt Angie built him up and when she left and claimed he was an azz no one really believed her. These types of quotes are why. But she did the same with BBT. Her explanantion to an interviewer was “He liked when I said nice things about him and I wanted him to be happy, he was my friend and I loved him.” So I get it but honey, Brad rarely spoke that well about you and she what he did when you left. Imho he was always in competition with her.
We all do that with our partners so I don’t think she was building him up.
“… how her dad feels about her different politics?”
he likely shares her stance on venezuela’s political situation. probably wants nothing to do with the refugees, though.
On a completely superficial note she looks Amazing & has gained her weight back🙈🙈…..
It’s wrenching to see the violence being done to Venezuelans. If Angie can get more light shed on the situation, then I’m all for it.
I usually don’t care much for Angelina, but I’m really glad she’s getting involved with this. The situation in Venezuela is horrific, and some people still hold it as an ideal of a socialist country, when it’s really a failed dictatorship.
Good for Angie. The media doesn’t really care though. They only seem to care and focus on what our horrible POTUS is talking about. They need to give him less air time and focus on real problems not his LIES.
Angelina is a good lady who clearly cares about those in desperate, God-awful situations. Bless her and all of those who work hard to help those less fortunate than themselves ❤
I wonder, though, what will become of the people fleeing Venezuela- and other similar countries ripped apart by war and poverty? I know wealthier nations could, should and do take in displaced people but they cannot take in every single person. I have always felt that the true solution to the refugee crisis all over the world is for the international community to band together and come up with viable solutions to help fix the problems in the countries from which people are fleeing. Bringing people into safe countries is great but its only a band-aid solution. And what happens to the host countries? I know it is not the current situation, but wealthier nations have their own problems and citizens who desperately need help such as homeless veterans, children living in poverty and mental health crisis (these are three issues currently plaguing Canada…but there are countless more) so bringing in more people, many of whom are traumatized, broke and do not possess the language or skills to support themselves and their families, will only put a strain to the host countries and build resentment in the citizens already struggling.
I am not cold to the plight of refugees. I cannot fathom having to leave my country because of war or poverty. However there needs to be REAL solutions to this crisis and ASAP, otherwise the world will be in chaos and once stable societies will crumble into hate-filled, nationalistic messes (kind of like the mess that is the USA).
Angelina is a good human being, deceny is just hard to come by these days
Love her. A celebrity who really cares. I hope people pay attention and love conquers hate.
What has she done to her face? I cant put my finger on it, its subtle
She’s gained weight.