In the midst of the severe supply crisis in Venezuela, new aid supplies for the needy population are reaching the collection points. Today a plane with relief supplies from the US outer area Puerto Rico landed in the Colombian capital Bogota.
By land, the material should be made in the border town of Cucuta, as the Puerto Rican Foreign Ministry announced. The controversial head of state Nicolas Maduro, however, considers humanitarian aid as an excuse for military intervention and does not want to let them into the country.
Trump: Maduro makes terrible mistakes
Maduro makes a „terrible mistake,“ US President Donald Trump said Wednesday at the White House during a meeting with Colombian President Ivan Duque. Such „bad things“ happened when the „wrong“ government was in power. Duque called for a „clear message“ to Maduro that the blockade of relief supplies was a crime against humanity.
For just over a week, ten trucks with around 100 tons of food, medicines and hygiene items have been ready at the Colombian border with Venezuela. The Venezuelan military does not let them pass at the behest of Maduro. Despite the blockade, the US brought more relief supplies. The US Development Aid Agency (USAID) flew vitamin fortified energy bars to Colombia. The rations can feed 10,000 children for a month, it said.
In addition, a collection center for food, medicines and hygiene products in the Brazilian state of Roraima on the border with Venezuela will be established and the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao will become a logistics hub for relief supplies. Today, representatives of several countries wanted to meet in Washington at the invitation of the Organization of American States (OAS) to discuss further humanitarian aid.
Venezuelan army reinforces blockade of border bridge
Venezuela’s army has meanwhile reinforced the blockade of a bridge on the border with Colombia. As reported by journalists and journalists from the AFP news agency, Venezuelan soldiers today brought more containers to the Tienditas Bridge between the Venezuelan town of Urena and the neighboring Colombian city of Cucuta at sunrise. About 20 members of the National Guard patrolled the area. Last week, the Venezuelan army had blocked the bridge with a tanker truck and two containers.
