Venezuelan Doctors Are an Unexpected Boon for Latin America’s Poor

Juan Carlos Riera’s melodic Venezuelan accent coaxed a smile from his octogenarian patient even as he told her she needed surgery. Thanks to Riera's quick diagnosis at the hospital in Chile’s rural central valley, the woman’s wait would be cut by a year.

Crossing patients off lists has become Riera’s mission in La Calera, Chile, where he emigrated in 2015. After hyperinflation under Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro slashed his once-robust salary and drained supplies of medicine and equipment, he saw no alternative but to leave. Indeed, the exodus of more than 22,000 doctors from 2012 to 2017 is—for now—closing a healthcare gap across Latin America.