Latin America is facing the largest refugee crisis in its history as hundreds of thousands of people flee Venezuela to escape severe economic hardship. Once one of the region's wealthiest countries, Venezuela has been hit hard by a drop in oil prices from 2014 onwards, with the economic situation worsening under the fiscal mismanagement of President Nicolas Maduro. Since Maduro took power following the death of the country's long-time leader, Hugo Chavez, in 2013, the Venezuelan bolivar has lost some 99.99 percent of its value against the US dollar on the black market. Few Venezuelans have access to official exchange rates, which have been controlled since 2003. The president blames the crisis on an 'economic war' against the socialist country by opponents, including the United States but for many of the country's 31.5 million people, the exact reason things went wrong is no longer important. The imploding economy has led to shortages of basic items such as food and medicine and, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), some 1.6 million Venezuelans have left the country since 2015. For those who remain, daily life is a struggle and hopes of a better life in Colombia, Brazil or elsewhere are never far from their minds. Three Venezuelans share their hopes, dreams and fears for the future with Al Jazeera: Olga Betancourt, 43, hairdresser 'The situation in the country has become so difficult. No matter how hard you work, the money is never enough to buy anything, including materials and tools to work with because they are extremely expensive. 'About a year and five months ago is when life began to become unbearable here ... I can't buy food, my mother needs special treatment for high blood pressure but she can't get it because it's too expensive. Her entire pension goes to pay for her medication. 'I will leave in two months if I can sell what I need to sell. It's not because I want to emigrate from