The Venezuelan army has been alerted to US aid deliveries and has closed the air and sea borders with the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao. The commander responsible for the region did not mention reasons or details yesterday. Curacao was recently in talks to become a hub for relief supplies for Venezuela.
The armed forces would protect „the territorial integrity“ of the country, warned Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino yesterday. He reiterated the „full loyalty“ of the military leadership to head of state Nicolas Maduro.
Humanitarian aid as a political game ball
On Curacao, the closest island to Venezuela, which is part of the Netherlands Antilles, so far, about 15,000 people have fled from Venezuela, as human rights organizations appreciate. Curacao is located about 80 kilometers from Venezuela and is an independent country in the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
International humanitarian assistance to Venezuela is increasingly becoming a plaything in the power struggle between Maduro and his rival Juan Guaido. The opposition leader and self-proclaimed transitional president has called on the Maduro government to allow medicines and food supplied mainly from the US by Saturday.
But Maduro categorically refuses to let US aid into the country. He sees them as a pretext to prepare the ground for a US-led military intervention.
