The Fort Worth Press - 'I'm leaving': Maduro victory sparks fears of new exodus of Venezuelans

"There is no light at the end of the tunnel. I'm leaving," the 31-year-old told AFP.

Some 7.5 million people have already left the country in the last decade to escape the oil-rich nation's grave economic crisis, according to the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR).

And surrounding nations are bracing for another exodus after Maduro was declared the victor of Sunday's election. The opposition claims it was the rightful winner and the dispute has sparked deadly protests, leaving at least 16 dead.

Vasquez studied to be a teacher, but now works as a salesman, as salaries in his chosen profession were so low "that they are useless."

"Everyone knows what's going to happen: people my age and younger people are going to leave. There's going to be a huge migratory flight," he predicted from the central square in San Cristobal, a city in western Venezuela.

Ahead of the vote, pollster ORC Consultores had found that 18 percent of Venezuelans were considering emigrating within six months if Maduro remained in power.

The 61-year-old came into office in 2013 and is now set to rule at least until 2031.

"I had hopes in this electoral process... now we have to think about alternatives," said Vasquez, describing himself as "sad, tired."

He is mulling going to Spain, where he has some relatives, though millions of his countrymen have spread out across Latin America.

- Migrant flow to increase -

Panamanian authorities have already announced the boosting of security measures in the region.

"I think, and I hope I'm wrong, that the flow of Venezuelans is going to increase for obvious reasons," Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino said Monday.

Since the beginning of the year, more than 200,000 people have crossed the lawless Darien Gap jungle on the Colombia-Panama border -- two-thirds of them Venezuelans, according to official Panamanian figures.

The United States last month pledged $6 million in funding for migrant repatriations from the Central American nation in the hope of reducing irregular crossings at its own southern border -- a major issue in US elections.

Chile is also bracing for a fresh wave of migration from Venezuela, announcing Thursday it would reinforce its northern border and coordination with other countries.

"There is a concern that this could intensify and we certainly have to prepare for that," Interior Minister Carolina Toha told reporters Thursday.

According to UN estimates, which Maduro's government rejects, the five Latin American countries with the largest number of migrants from Venezuela are Colombia (2.8 million), Peru (1.5 million), Brazil (568,000), Chile (532,000) and Ecuador (444,000).

Peru also announced that it had strengthened its migration controls.

"We cannot receive (migrants) on the scale of the previous exodus," Peruvian Foreign Minister Javier Gonzalez-Olaechea told local radio.

T.Dixon--TFWP