City braces as US amasses aid on Venezuelan border

CUCUTA, COLOMBIA » This border city, already grappling with a mounting migration crisis, is bracing for a tense showdown that will likely mark a new chapter in the unfolding crisis of its neighbor, Venezuela.

U.S. military planes continue a buildup of humanitarian aid on the Venezuelan border, a development spotlighted Sunday in an appearance by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. More than 100,000 people are expected at a foreign-organized concert here on Friday to protest the Venezuelan government. And on Saturday, Venezuelan opposition figures with U.S. backing plan to lead thousands of protesters, dressed in white, to the border to confront the country’s national guard.

All of this has made Cucuta, a city of 750,000 people overwhelmed by the massive Venezuelan migration that has flowed over its border for years, very nervous.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has vowed to block the aid, calling it a pretext for U.S. intervention in his crisis-stricken country.

Venezuela is in the midst of a dire humanitarian crisis, and the relatively small amount of aid is meant to begin to relieve a severe shortage of basic goods that has fueled malnutrition and disease. But opposition leaders and U.S. officials also hope to elicit the first public mass defection of Venezuelan armed forces if the soldiers disavow their orders and accept the shipment.