Venezuelan troops block bridge to block Colombia's aid | News from the world

Venezuelan troops barricaded a bridge over the country's western border with Colombia ostensibly to prevent the entry of humanitarian aid sent by opposition leaders who were trying to coerce Nicolás Maduro to take power.

On Wednesday at lunchtime, a fuel tanker and two shipping containers blocked the Tienditas International Bridge, which connects the two countries and became a gathering ground for relief operations planned. Members of the Bolivarian National Guard of Venezuela were also seen on the bridge.

A convoy carrying aid, which was offered by the United States, left Bogotá Wednesday at 11 am and was heading towards Cúcuta by winding mountains, said a Colombian government official. He will arrive at the border early Thursday morning.

Maduro repeatedly reiterated that his economically devastated country was facing a humanitarian crisis, apparently fearing that such an acceptance could be invoked to justify foreign military intervention. "We are not beggars," he said during a speech to the troops this week.

The attempt by his political rival, Juan Guaidó, to move aid through Venezuela's borders with Colombia and Brazil represents the latest attempt to weaken the regime under Maduro's regime by forcing members of the military to disobey his orders and let the aid pbad.

"The main objective now is to seek to break the army – and humanitarian aid is basically the Trojan horse to try to do it," said Maryhen Jiménez Morales, a specialist in Venezuelan politics. at the University of Oxford.

Guaidó urged Venezuelan border troops not to impede humanitarian aid to help "your family, your sister, your mother, your wife – who will surely need these supplies".

Juan Andrés Mejía, a deputy from Guaidó's party, Voluntad Popular, told the Guardian that trying to get help across Venezuelan borders was a double challenge to the Maduro diet – as well as an effort to alleviate a humanitarian crisis Venezuelans are fleeing abroad.

"The government has a dilemma … Either they let it in [and look weak] or they refuse it, which I do not think, because they are not so stupid, and they will also lose. It is therefore a win-win situation for us and for the people. "

Mejía denied hope that the opposition was hoping to provoke a military incident some of which might fear use to justify an international intervention aimed at overthrowing Maduro. "It's not our goal. This is not what we are looking for. Basically, the strategy … is to show people that humanitarian aid is real, [that] it's not just a speech … and he's close and he can be here soon. "

Mejía added, "We are a non-violent movement. We do not have weapons and we do not want to have them. We are absolutely certain that violence benefits the government and we can not win a violent fight against the government. "

The United Nations has warned against the use of aid as a political tool. "Humanitarian action must be independent of any political, military or other objective," said a spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric. "When we see the current stalemate, it becomes even more obvious that serious political negotiations between the parties are needed to find a solution leading to lasting peace for the people of Venezuela."

Cucuta congressman Juan Capacho told the Guardian that the blockade was a "tyrannical irresponsibility that we will overcome" and that "help" would give Venezuela freedom.

Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State, tweeted: "The Venezuelan people desperately need humanitarian badistance. The United States and other countries are trying to help, but #The Venezuelan army under the orders of Maduro blocks the help of trucks and tankers. The Maduro regime must allow aid to reach the poorest. "

However, Maduro and members of his entourage remained publicly categorical about the fact that help would not be allowed to enter.

"With this demonstration of humanitarian aid, they are trying to send a message:" Venezuela must go begging in the world! "And Venezuela will not ask anything from anyone in the world," Maduro said Monday.

Diosdado Cabello, another great chavis, on Tuesday described humanitarian aid as part of a hostile foreign military intervention that would be postponed.

"Our territory must be respected. As our brother President Nicolás Maduro has said: any military unit attempting to enter our territory will be rejected and our Bolivarian national armed forces will defend our territory. There should be no doubt about it.

Additional report by Patricia Torres