‘To be reunited … would be a dream’: Venezuelan exiles’ fate hangs on vote

Venezuelans walk across the Simón Bolívar Bridge in Villa del Rosario, Colombia, last week. More than 2.8 million Venezuelans have sought refuge in Colombia. Photograph: Mario Caicedo/EPA

For Jessica Sierra, presidential elections this weekend will not only decide who will run Venezuela for the next six years. Like many of the almost 8 million Venezuelans scattered across the globe, they could also dictate whether she can finally return home and be reunited with her family.

“My parents, my grandparents, uncles, aunties, my little sister – they are all still there. To be reunited with them again?” She paused as she struggled to put into words what it would mean to go back home after four years struggling to make a living in neighbouring Colombia. “It would be a dream.”