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| - A global conference to support millions of migrants fleeing Venezuela on Tuesday raised more than $650 million in donations, a result hailed as "exceptional" by the UN refugee chief. Ministers and officials from nearly 40 countries, as well as UN agencies and international finance institutions, pledged help at the event, held by video because of coronavirus. Including loans, a total of $2.79 billion was raised at the conference, organised jointly by the EU and the Spanish government. "Today we mobilised the international community to deliver further assistance to millions of displaced Venezuelans and those countries in Latin America that host them," said EU foreign policy head Josep Borrell. Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, hailed the pledges as "a very exceptional result". More than five million people have fled the political and economic chaos engulfing Venezuela under hard-left President Nicolas Maduro -- a situation made worse by the coronavirus pandemic. "Today's results make us satisfied because the international community has listened, because the world has fixed its gaze on a drama that was becoming invisible (...) because we have set an example of solidarity," Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya said. The EU said its immediate pledge of nearly 145 million euros would focus on humanitarian assistance to support refugees in Venezuela's neighbours, and aid to help them integrate in host countries -- notably Colombia, Peru and Ecuador. tjc-pdw/pvh
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