Jose Gonzalez (3rd L), a 32-year-old Venezuelan and former sales representative, relaxes at the beach next to his pregnant wife Maria, his mother-in-law Virginia (L), his daughter and friends in Miami April 27, 2014. Jose moved to America with his family six months ago. As political strife drags on and an economic crisis brings soaring prices and shortages of even basic goods, Venezuela’s middle classes are increasingly seeing a future abroad. Tomas Paez, a Central University of Venezuela sociologist publishing a study about the diaspora, said up to 1.6 million people, or about 6 percent of the population, are living abroad. Almost 90 percent of them have left since 1999 and the exodus has been fastest in the last six years, toward the end of the Chavez era and into Maduro’s term, he said. Picture taken on April 27. To match Feature VENEZUELA-MIGRATION/ REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins (UNITED STATES – Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY IMMIGRATION TRAVEL)