‘Si no hay leal, no hay lopa’ [‘No money, no work’]: Chinese migration, exclusion and transnational resistance in Venezuela, 1870s–1940s

This paper asks why, compared with Chinese migration to other countries in Latin America, the Chinese in Venezuela enjoyed relative success. It traces the story of Chinese migrants to Venezuela from the 1870s to the 1940s, when los chinos – although encountering draconian exclusionary policies from the Caracas government and facing legal and social challenges – avoided the most severe threats facing their compatriots elsewhere in Latin America. It further discusses the distinctive features of this group of migrants, discrepancies between the law and its implementation, and the impact on the local Chinese population of the Venezuelan debate over race and ethnicity.