U.S. to deliver relief supplies for Venezuela
WASHINGTON — The U.S. military will begin delivering relief supplies to the Colombian border near Venezuela, U.S. officials said Friday, as the Trump administration increases its efforts to assist the opposition.
The relief includes food, hygiene kits and medical supplies, said Army Lt. Col. Jamie Davis, a Pentagon spokesman.
The State Department said it will work with the Defense Department and USAID to deliver the aid to the border city of Cucuta, Colombia,
“for distribution within Venezuela.”
A flight will department from Miami on Saturday.
“This humanitarian mission underscores the United States’ firm commitment and readiness to respond to the man-made political, economic and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela,” the State Department said in a statement. “This humanitarian assistance must be allowed to enter Venezuela to reach people in need.”
A U.S. defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the mission does not indicate that additional American troops will be deploying to Colombia. More than 200 tons of supplies are expected to be delivered.
It isn’t yet clear how the supplies will be disbursed or where.
The U.S. has continued to press Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to step down amid an economic and political crisis in which the National Assembly declared his 2018 re-election invalid last month and declared the assembly’s president, Juan Guaidó, interim president.
Davis said the assistance is part of an effort by the U.S. government “to respond to the humanitarian impacts of this political and economic crisis.” The aid was requested by Guaidó, he said.
USAID said in a tweet Friday that the hygiene kits include toilet paper, feminine products, soap, razors, toothpaste, laundry detergent and other items that have become scarce and prohibitively expensive in Venezuela.
Venezuelans are bracing for a showdown over foreign aid Feb. 23, when the opposition will seek to bring in millions of dollars’ worth of supplies donated by the U.S. and other countries from staging areas in Colombia, Curacao and Brazil. Maduro, however, has called the mission a Trojan horse invasion by the U.S. and ordered the military to prevent any aid from getting in.
Earlier Friday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in Iceland that Maduro’s recent invitation to Elliot Abrams, the State Department’s special envoy for the country, shows that he is desperate.
“This man, Maduro, has created a humanitarian crisis that is unequaled, in a nation where there was no hard conflict,” Pompeo said. “And we as citizens, this weekend will continue to deliver massive humanitarian assistance.”