Colombia recently deployed 3,000 troops along its border with Venezuela to control the influx of more than 250,000 refugees fleeing that failing socialist country. Brazil declared a state of social emergency, deployed 100 more troops to the border, established new checkpoints, and a field hospital to deal with the more than 60,000 Venezuelan refugees who have crossed over into the northern part of the country. That is likely the first of many actions by Colombia, Brazil, and other neighboring governments to deal with this mess.

Since the rise of Hugo Chavez’s Bolivarian socialism two decades ago, 4 million Venezuelans have fled the country — including 1.2 million just in the last two years. The scale of Venezuela’s emigration is quickly approaching the 5.5 million Syrians who fled Syria during its civil war. A poll conducted by the Venezuelan firm Consultores21 found that 40 percent of respondents wanted to flee the country last December. If realized, that would mean almost 13 million emigrants, dwarfing the number who have fled Syria so far during its civil war.