US sends food and drugs to Colombian border with Venezuela

They will be stockpiled until arrangements are made for their delivery to the oil country, officials in Washington informed on Tuesday.

A manager, who requested anonymity, said that help, including ready-to-use and high-energy food supplements, would be stocked in the border town of Cucuta.

It is still unclear how the aid will reach the OPEC member nation without the permission of President Nicolás Maduro and the cooperation of the army, remained loyal to the head of the UN. State and stationed on the Venezuelan side of the border.

US officials said trucks carrying humanitarian aid were heading to Cucuta at the request of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó.

The pressure on Maduro has been growing daily since several European countries joined the United States, Canada and some countries in the region on Monday, recognizing Guaidó as the legitimate leader of Venezuela.

However, Russia, China and Turkey continue to support Maduro, accusing Western countries of interfering in Venezuela's internal affairs.

Guaidó, 35, galvanized Venezuela's opposition with a hopeful message. He has repeatedly called on members of the Venezuelan armed forces to support the transition to democracy.

The opposition leader and his team also asked people in uniform to allow humanitarian aid to enter the country, estimating that between 250,000 and 300,000 people, children, elderly and pregnant women, were vulnerable because of lack of medicines and malnutrition.

The opposition MP, Miguel Pizarro, said at a press conference on Tuesday that he was currently in the process of collecting help and that the timing, the way and the place of entry would be distributed later. He did not specify the date.

He only announced that what is collected in Cúcuta comes from Venezuelan companies in Colombia, from the government of Bogotá and from another part of the United States, which calculated that what they have equated to help Venezuelans for a month.

In the future, they are waiting for the help of Canada, Germany, Argentina and Puerto Rico, among others, said Pizarro.

The United States could try to get approval from the United Nations Security Council to help without the cooperation of Maduro. However, Russia could block this movement.

"TRUCK"

Maduro, who denies the existence of a humanitarian crisis, made fun of Monday night: "They want to send two trucks with tops (things …), they want to come humiliating the people of the Venezuela and I will not allow them to humiliate the people of Venezuela ".

His socialist government attacked the nations of the European Union (EU) and said his movement would affect relations with Caracas. He accused them of submitting to a "strategy of overthrowing the legitimate government" and pointed out that Spain, which previously led mediation efforts, was acting "loosely".

US Vice President Mike Pence said Friday in Miami that the United States is ready to provide badistance to Venezuelans.

"The United States of America is also ready to provide humanitarian badistance to the Venezuelan people in Venezuela," said Pence to a group of Venezuelan exiles. "We are ready to work with the Provisional Government of Venezuela, the National Assembly and President Guaidó."

Venezuela is experiencing an economic meltdown due to historical hyperinflation and a shortage of food and commodities that has caused some 3 million people to flee since 2015, according to UN data.

The largest city on the border, Cúcuta, was the most affected by Venezuelan migrants. Thousands of people daily cross the main bridge between the two countries, carrying suitcases and plastic bags under a hot sun.

Those who settle in Cúcuta are often the poorest in Venezuela. Others walk and travel by bus for hundreds of kilometers to other cities in Colombia, or continue their journey for several days in Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina and Brazil.

Source: El Comercio