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AbstractPeru is the second most important destination country for Venezuelan emigration. The country's policy response can be separated into two distinct phases: the first one, under former president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (July 2016–March 2018), is characterized by relative openness; the second one, under incumbent president Martín Vizcarra (in office since March 2018), is characterized by policy closure and a shift towards securitization. In this paper, we apply the concept of adaptive leadership to explain the stark difference in the migration‐related governance of both presidents. We find that the policy shift can be explained by an interplay between three factors: an internal political crisis due to conflict between the executive and legislative branches of government; the change in number and social profiles of Venezuelan migrants, with a tendency towards lower social, economic and educational statuses; and the rise in xenophobic attitudes among the Peruvian population.

This paper explores the concept of "suffering" in the migratory experience of displaced Venezuelans in Peru in three moments: in the context of their departure, during the journey to Peru, and in the context of their arrival. Through a mixed methodology of participant observation and interviews, this paper aims to understand the signification of the concept of suffering in the different phases of the process. In the analyzed case, it was found that to each phase corresponds different motives and types of suffering, and that others are maintained in the three stages. Although the concept of suffering is implicit in many recent academic contributions to the phenomenon of migration, an adequate theorization of the suffering of Venezuelan forcibly displaced has been lacking. This article thus contributes to the literature on migration and suffering, and at the same time to the emerging literature on Venezuelan forced displacement across Latin America.