Thousands of volunteers ready to bring US aid into Venezuela
Thousands of volunteers in Venezuela began mobilising on Sunday to bring American aid into their crisis-hit country despite a blockade by President Nicolas Maduro, who claims the assistance could be cover for a US invasion.
Once-wealthy Venezuela is gripped by a power struggle between socialist leader Maduro and Juan Guaido, the head of the National Assembly who proclaimed himself interim president in January and now has the backing of more than 50 countries.
As the political battle between Guaido and Maduro deepened, Caracas confirmed talks had been held with an envoy for US President Donald Trump’s administration.
The oil-rich country’s economic meltdown under Maduro has left millions in poverty facing shortages of medicine and food, with hyperinflation making purchases impossible.
US aid that has been piling up in the Colombian border town of Cucuta has become the frontline of the confrontation between Guaido and Maduro.
“Venezuela is preparing for the humanitarian avalanche,” Guaido told supporters who gathered on Saturday to volunteer. They included doctors, nurses and students.
He told the rally that 600,000 people had registered to help bring aid in through border points.
Three US military cargo planes delivered several dozen more tons of food assistance to Cucuta, another US aircraft is due in the Caribbean island of Curacao from Miami on Tuesday, and a collection centre for Brazilian opens on Monday on the border, Guaido’s team said.
The US shipment on Saturday was accompanied by a delegation led by Mark Green, head of the US Agency for International Development.
US assistance was blocked by containers which Maduro loyalists placed on a border bridge to prevent access.
On another front, Venezuelan foreign minister Jorge Arreaza said he had met twice with special US envoy Elliott Abrams, but declined to comment on what was discussed.
Maduro asserts aid could be used as a way for the US to invade. He called for reinforced border security and dismissed the arriving “crumbs” as “rotten and contaminated food”.
About 2.3-million Venezuelans have fled the country since 2015 as the crisis intensified.
Guaido accuses Maduro of being a “usurper” over his controversial re-election in 2018 in polls widely branded as fraudulent. –