Possible aid hub for Venezuela identified

AMSTERDAM: The Netherlands and the US reached an agreement on Friday to use facilities on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao for possible distribution of aid to nearby Venezuela, Curaçao’s prime minister has said.

Last month the Dutch Foreign Ministry said the island would be used only for civilian operations to deliver aid, such as food and medicines, to Venezuela if the Venezuelan government explicitly allowed it.

Curaçao Prime Minister Eugene Rhuggenaath said on Twitter that the US and the Netherlands had signed an agreement detailing the access and use of facilities in Curaçao as a humanitarian hub for aid to Venezuela.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has refused to let foreign aid into his country, despite an economic crisis, shortages of food and medicine, and hyperinflation.