Volunteers in Venezuela vow to cross borders to get aid
CARACAS, Venezuela — As President Nicolas Maduro deploys missiles and infantrymen to Venezuela’s borders bracing for what he alleges is a U.S. coup plot disguised as humanitarian aid, his opponents are rallying their own troops.
Nurses, doctors, engineers and homemakers have volunteered by the thousands to distribute the food and medicine in the face of a government ban.
The citizen brigade is one of the most ambitious undertakings Venezuela’s opposition has tried. The plan — to bring tons of food and medicine into the country for sick and malnourished Venezuelans — is in open defiance of Maduro, who considers it a foreign military intervention.
The volunteers anticipate running into roadblocks by soldiers who remain loyal to Maduro. They know that their chances of breaking through are slim, but they’re undaunted.
“There’s a lot of concern about how it’s going to come into the country,” said Danny Golindano, a doctor, speaking to a group of volunteers through a microphone at a Caracas plaza. “As health providers, it’s our duty.”
The opposition plans to mobilize Saturday. Leaders say they will make a first attempt to bring the emergency food and medicine across the border from Colombia, Brazil and the Caribbean island of Curacao, all of which have been blocked by the government. Air and sea travel were halted from Curacao this week, and the border with Brazil was ordered closed indefinitely Thursday. Earlier this month, Venezuelan troops barricaded the main bridge linking the country to the Colombian border city of Cucuta, where U.S. aid is stored.
The opposition has not detailed how they will overcome the government obstacles.
Opposition leader Juan Guaido, who has declared himself Venezuela’s interim president, has called on “caravans” of volunteers to help bring in and deliver the supplies. He has called on soldiers to stand down and reject Maduro’s orders blocking them, but large-scale defections haven’t appeared.