Estrategias de aculturación de inmigrantes venezolanos residentes en la ciudad de Cuenca

Abstract

In recent years, the migration flow of Venezuelan people has increased due to the economic and political crisis experienced by this country since 2013. Thus, the entry of Venezuelan immigrants has been assimilated as a problem in the country of destination, mainly due to inconsistencies and inefficiency in human mobility legislation, in addition to the construction of negative images based on stereotypes disseminated by the media, impacting on migrant-local interactions. The purpose of this research was to learn about the management of acculturation strategies of Venezuelan immigrants residing in the city of Cuenca. Consequently, the context of the study was the Cuenca canton of the Azuay province, and a qualitative approach with exploratory scope and cross-sectional design was used. The study involved 12 regular Venezuelan immigrants residing in the urban area of the city of Cuenca for a period of more than 1 year, to whom semi-structured interviews were applied. The main findings of the research were that the participants use assimilationist and bicultural strategies of acculturation to a greater extent, which respond to the conditions of the social context of Cuenca and direct interaction with the locals. On the other hand, the changes that immigrants experience due to the migration process are evident in the labor, economic, social and family spheres. Cultural differences, informal language or jargon and the processes for regularization represent challenges wich Venezuelan immigrants face in the new context. Finally, the set of social networks, both transnational and local, represent a source of economic and emotional support, while they act like channels of information, which facilitates the process of adjustment and adaptation to the city of Cuenca.