U.S., Russia take up opposing sides in efforts to provide aid shipments

MOSCOW — Call it the aid wars.

The Trump administration is accusing President Nico- las Maduro of starving Venezuelans by blocking tons of American-supplied human- itarian aid stored next door in Colombia. In Russia, the Kremlin sees the Venezue- lan opposition’s plan to force the aid across the border as a reckless pretext for ordering a U.S. military intervention.

As tensions in Venezuela mount ahead of a Saturday showdown over humanitarian aid, both sides are dig- ging in, highlighting how the South American nation’s crisis has become the latest fault line in a battle for global influence by the former Cold War adversaries.

At stake is the future of Venezuela, a once oil-rich country gripped by hyper- inflation and widespread shortages of food and medi- cine. Opposition leader Juan Guaido last month declared himself the country’s rightful president, a claim backed by the U.S. and dozens of other nations that argue Madu- ro’s re-election last year was fraudulent because most opposition candidates were barred from running.

Russia, long a staunch Maduro ally, has remained firmly behind the socialist leader. Russian state news agencies said Wednesday that a Russian shipment of medicine and medical equip- ment had arrived in Vene- zuela. The reports did not give the size of the shipment or say what it contained, though they cited a diplo- matic source as saying the delivery was made under the aegis of the World Health Organization.

Hours earlier Maduro had said 300 tons of medicine and other aid was on its way from Russia.

Carlos Romero, an inter- national affairs professor at the Central University of Venezuela, said that Russia’s support for Maduro is more symbolic than consequen- tial when compared to the intense pressure against the government being exerted by the U.S. in what he called “Washington’s backyard.” Still, he said the two global powers were on a collision course in Venezuela, mak- ing it harder to negotiate a de-escalation of tensions.

“The fate of Venezuela is in the hands of outsiders,” said Romero, who has advised Venezuela’s opposi- tion in the past. “It’s like two trains heading toward one another on the same track and every day that passes they gain speed.”

Guaido has called for “caravans” of tens of thousands of Venezuelans to join forces Saturday to carry the U.S. aid from Colombia into Venezuela, despite Maduro’s objections and the barricading of a key bridge linking Venezuela and the Colombian border city of Cucuta, where the aid is stored. The Kremlin has sharply criticized the plan as reckless, accusing Guaido of seeking a pretext to call for a U.S. military intervention.

“If the organizers really want to just deliver some kind of humanitarian aid to the needy, why not use the specialized U.N. agencies that have extensive and invaluable experience in carrying out such operations?” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reaffirmed strong criticism of Washington’s policy on Venezuela, saying Wednesday that calls this week by President Donald Trump on the Venezuelan military to drop support for Maduro represent a flagrant violation of international law. Lavrov said he hopes “reason will prevail” and the Venezuelan opposition will engage in talks with Maduro to resolve the crisis.