Impacts of the immigration corridor on peruvian and chilean cities: urban transformations during the pandemic

Abstract

The eviction of migrants from Plaza Brasil, in the city of Iquique, an act that was questioned due to the violence used by public forces, revealed not just the humanitarian problem involved, but also a turning point in attempts to normalize a process where cities have been altered by the exodus of migrants. This study looks into the impacts generated by the successive stages of migration within the Venezuelan migratory flow, one characterized by the great vulnerability of these migrants. Since the start of 2020, amid a health crisis and border closures, they have entered Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Chile by land using unauthorized crossings, to find better living conditions in these destinations. Here, the approaches which connect flows and transformations as responses to reproduction factors of global society, with those that conceive mobility as a “creative force” that interacts autonomously with these structures, are discussed. To this end, mobility in the historical centers of three cities located in border transit and entry zones to each country, where the interrelation in public space has been transformed and stressed, is explored, namely Piura, in Peru, and Iquique and Antofagasta in Chile. The results show similarities in the dynamics and transformations generated. Given the vulnerable condition of migrants, there is an increase in the occupation of public space, through autonomous actions of self-management and organization, as well as local resistance, demonstrating the relevance of mobility in modern society. All-in-all, it is recommended to adopt a differentiated agenda to understand the connection between migrants and places during the mobility experience.