U.S. delivers aid for Venezuela to Colombia
The U.S. military began flying humanitarian aid to a Colombian city close to the Venezuelan border Saturday in an effort to turbocharge a relief plan that has become a cornerstone of the quest to oust President Nicolás Maduro.
Military personnel used C-17 cargo planes to transport thousands of nutritional supplements and hygiene kits from a base near Miami to Cúcuta, the main staging ground for hundreds of millions of dollars in humanitarian aid that Venezuelan opposition leaders and their international backers hope to get across the border.
Maduro, who has accused the United States of weaponizing aid, has blocked the main roads that connect the two nations near Cúcuta and put his armed forces on high alert to counter what he called “conspiracies and provocations.”
As the standoff over Venezuela’s future has dragged on for weeks, Maduro and his foes are vying for the support of
the commanders of the armed forces, which so far have remained loyal to the country’s authoritarian leader.
A chief reason is the enormous amount of money the country’s more than 2,000 generals stand to lose in a postMaduro era, Adm. Craig S. Faller, head of the U.S. Southern Command, said.
“There are a lot of generals and a lot of leaders on Maduro’s illicit payroll through illicit drug trafficking, money laundering and any number of businesses in the oil industry,” Faller said. “Maduro has bought their loyalty.”
The U.S. military has concluded that more than 1,000 Cuban military and intelligence advisers, working with the Russian government, have been instrumental in keeping the top echelons of the Venezuelan military loyal to Maduro, Faller added.
Though rank-and-file members of the Venezuelan military have endured the hunger and privations that much of the population faces, the country’s large corps of generals and other high-ranking officers has so far refused to back a plan to oust Maduro and help opposition leaders convene a new election.
The standoff over Venezuela’s future began roughly a month ago when the new leader of the opposition, Juan Guaidó, announced a road map to remove Maduro from power.
President Donald Trump’s administration has not ruled out the use of military force in Venezuela as it has staunchly backed Guaidó. Officials at Southcom, the Miami-based U.S. regional command that handles operations in Latin America, have been drawing up plans for a series of potential missions in Venezuela.