‘Fake’ aid leads to power spat

VENEZUELA: MADURO, GUAIDO IN SERIOUS DEADLOCK

The fight between the two contesting leaders ‘might lead to US military entry’.

Caracas

Desperately needed aid being stockpiled at Venezuela’s door is at the heart of a political duel between the two men fighting to lead the oil-rich nation: Juan Guaido and Nicolas Maduro.

Guaido, recognised as Venezuela’s interim president by about 50 countries, has pressed the all-critical military to allow the mostly American humanitarian aid to reach the most vulnerable population, or about 300 000 people.

Maduro insists the shortages plaguing the country are caused by Washington’s punitive sanctions, and he has vowed to stop the “spectacle of fake humanitarian aid”.

The aid “is at the heart of the struggle between two pillars of power,” political scientist Luis Salamanca told AFP.

“This struggle is playing out as it concerns the future of the armed forces. Guaido is trying to get the military on his side, while Maduro tries to keep it behind him.”

Using a tanker truck, two container trucks and barriers, the army has been blocking the Tienditas border bridge since Thursday.

Several hundred metres from there, on the Colombia side of the border, are the hangars where the emergency aid is being stockpiled.

For John Magdaleno of the Polity consultancy, the confrontation between the two men is a “major event” that “is inevitably leading toward an escalation” between the government and the opposition, as well as between Maduro and the countries supporting his adversary.

“In the end, it’s in the hands of the United States. They are the ones who can use force,” Magdaleno said.

President Donald Trump’s administration, which has insisted that “all options are on the table” – has frozen the accounts of Venezuelan leaders and unveiled fresh sanctions to bar Maduro from accessing revenues from oil his country sells in the US.

Washington is exploring “all other options” first, Magdeleno said, adding that “this chapter on humanitarian aid foreshadows a far more significant escalation that could trigger a military intervention”.

However, the assistant secretary of state for western hemisphere affairs, Kimberly Breier, says the US has no intention of using force. –