U.S. to deliver more aid at border

CARACAS, Venezuela — The Trump administration is sending another large shipment of humanitarian aid to the Venezuela border in Colombia, for the first time using U.S. military aircraft as it increases pressure on President Nicolás Maduro to give up power, according to a State Department email sent to Congress.

The announcement of additional aid comes as the Trump administration on Friday added Venezuela’s oil boss and key intelligence officers to a long list of Maduro loyalists under U.S. financial sanctions.

The 250 tons of food supplies, hygiene kits and nutritional supplements will begin arriving Saturday in the border city of Cucuta, where tons of boxes of emergency aid are already awaiting delivery into Venezuela.

The aid came at the request of opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who the U.S. and dozens of other countries have recognized as Venezuela’s rightful leader after Maduro last month was sworn in for a second term widely seen as illegitimate.

Guaidó has vowed to deliver the aid over the objections of Maduro, who said Thursday that the offer of U.S. assistance represents mere “crumbs” compared to hostile efforts to block the country’s oil exports and restrict its access to foreign funding.

While the U.S. military has long supported humanitarian missions around the world, this is the first time they are being used to deploy aid for Venezuela. Last year, the U.S. sent more than $100 million in aid to help Colombian authorities absorb some of the estimated 3 million Venezuelans fleeing hyperinflation and food shortages.