As Venezuela spirals downward, South America struggles to absorb its migrants and refugees

BOGOTA, Colombia - Latin American countries are straining to cope with an influx of Venezuelan immigrants, a tide of humanity that is expected to increase in 2019 as the troubled socialist government of Nicolas Maduro clings to power.

Experts now estimate that more than 4 million Venezuelans, or more than 10 percent of the population, have left their native land since Maduro's predecessor, Hugo Chavez, took power in 1999. Most of the migrants have settled at least temporarily in neighboring South American countries.

Venezuelans are fleeing a country in the midst of social and economic collapse. "So much there is simply broken," said Jeffrey Davidow, a former U.S. ambassador to Venezuela.

Worsening conditions - hunger, hyperinflation and violent crime - have pushed the rate of departures higher in recent months. At least 1 million people are