It remains unclear if the US aid will be allowed to enter Venezuela, since Saturday, the supply waits in Colombia where the aircraft has landed.
The shipment from the United States that backs the opposition leader Juan Guaido is the second arrival of large-scale international humanitarian aid for Venezuelans. Due to the socio-economical crisis, many Venezuelans live in poverty, they have scant access to food and medicine. The since worsened since the moment when the opposition leader Guaidó declared himself interim president in defiance of the socialist president, Nicolas Maduro.
According to the White House, Mr Guaidó requested aid because the country was in crisis because of the Maduro regime. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) official Mark Green said children across Venezuela were going hungry, that nearly every hospital in Venezuela was experiencing medicine shortages and that three million people had left the country where there is no job for them.
Lester Toledo, a Guaido representative, confirmed at a news conference in Cúcuta that millions of Venezuelans will be travelling to the border to safeguard arriving aid.
The US humanitarian assistance aimed at helping Venezuelans
The US humanitarian assistance, including hygiene kits and special products meant for children suffering from malnutrition, are arriving from a US Air Force base in Florida, the US embassy said in a statement. Additional aid flights will take place over the coming days, the statement said, and medical supplies and pharmaceuticals meant for use in hospitals will arrive early next week.
Patrick Shanahan, The acting US defence secretary, said on Saturday the US used military aircraft to send aid to the Venezuelan border in Colombia because of the urgency of the humanitarian needs. “It’s a message to Venezuela that we are supporting their humanitarian needs,” Shanahan said, adding the aid was being transported by three C-17 aircraft.
Nicolas Maduro has denied there is any crisis in Venezuela and has called the operation a US-orchestrated show. On Friday he ordered the military to remain on high alert against what he described as US “war plans”.
