The dictator Nicolás Maduro announced an agreement with the Red Cross on the entry of humanitarian aid to Venezuela

The dictator of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, announced Wednesday an agreement with the Red Cross for the entry of humanitarian aid in his country, after meeting with the president of the International Committee of that organization, Peter Maurer

"We have reached an agreement between the international committees of the Red Cross and the Bolivarian government, with a view to working with United Nations organizations, at the United Nationsbring to Venezuela all the support, all the humanitarian aid that can be provided ", Maduro said on the radio and on compulsory television.

Venezuela is going through a severe economic crisis that has resulted in a shortage of medicines and medical equipment for about five years, and for this reason, last February, the Venezuelan opposition was expecting to receive donations from the United States. and other countries stored in Colombia, Brazil and Curacao, but were blocked by order of Maduro.

In his announcement today, Maduro made no reference to this fact, but explained that his Chancellor, Jorge Arreaza, is working on the negotiation of a "formal" document with the Red Cross where the parameters of the income of the aid are defined so that the International Committee of the body is the "rector" of all the "mechanisms" that they want to help.

"Respect the sovereignty of our country, without politicization of any kind, without false declaration (…) and by actually respecting the protocols of extreme and maximum security that the international system has for when, in the different countries of the world, including Venezuela, type of humanitarian aid ", a point.

The dictator said that "everything that is legal" is welcome. although he pointed out that "Venezuela has long received from China, Russia, Turkey and India" and the support of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) "humanitarian aid".

This Wednesday, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that the organization was willing to deal with the crisis in Venezuela and reduce their "negative impacts" on citizens.

Maurer visited the country for five days and met Maduro and several cabinet ministers, the two vice-presidents of Parliament, as well as doctors, nurses, patients and civil society badociations.

"There is a very good spirit of cooperation," Maurer said at a meeting with reporters in Caracas at the end of his visit.

He indicated that the Red Cross noted the difficulties of some hospitals to provide services to the population due to lack of water or electricity and he badured that they could also cooperate in these areas, as well as in the rehabilitation of health centers.

But "We can not rehabilitate the entire health system" and "We can not handle all the problems," shade.

(With information from AFP)