U.S. military aircraft to deliver more aid to Venezuela border

The Trump administration is sending another large shipment of humanitarian aid to the Venezuelan border in Colombia, for the first time using U.S. military aircraft as it increases pressure on Nicolas Maduro to give up power, according to a State Department email sent to Congress.

The announcement of additional aid comes as the Trump administration on Friday added Venezuela’s oil boss and key intelligence officers to a long list of Maduro loyalists under U.S. financial sanctions.

The 250 tons of food supplies, hygiene kits and nutritional supplements will begin arriving Saturday to the border city of Cucuta, where tons of boxes of emergency aid stamped with the U.S. flag are already warehoused awaiting delivery into Venezuela.

The email sent Friday was provided to The Associated Press by a congressional aide who wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

The aid came at the request of opposition leader Juan Guaido, who the U.S. and dozens of other countries have recognized as Venezuela’s rightful leader after President Nicolas Maduro last month was sworn in for a second term widely seen as illegitimate.

Guaido has vowed to deliver the aid over the objections of Maduro, who in an exclusive interview Thursday with the AP said that the offer of U.S. assistance represents mere “crumbs” compared to hostile efforts to block the country’s oil exports and restrict its access to foreign funding.

While the U.S. military has long supported civilianled humanitarian assistance missions around the world, this is the first time they are being used to deploy aid for Venezuela. Last year, the U.S. government sent more than $100 million in aid to Cucuta to help Colombian authorities absorb some of the estimated 3 million of Venezuelans fleeing hyperinflation and food shortages.

As U.S. pressure mounts, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters Friday in Reykjavik, Iceland, that he sees clear signs that Maduro is starting to understand Venezuelans reject him as their leader.

In the AP interview, Maduro said he was willing to meet President Donald Trump at any time or place to resolve the crisis over U.S. recognition of Guaido.