U.S. military transport planes carrying humanitarian aid intended for Venezuela landed February 16 in the Colombian border town of Cúcuta, where food and medicine are being stored pending arrangements for distribution.
The aid is being stockpiled at the request of Venezuela’s interim president, Juan Guaidó, who is recognized as his country’s legitimate leader by more than 50 nations — including the United States.
Thus far, Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro has blocked the aid from entering Venezuela, but Guaidó is calling upon Venezuela’s military to allow the aid to reach needy Venezuelans as the country’s crisis deepens. Under Maduro’s rule, food has become increasingly scarce, and nearly 90 percent of Venezuelans have been plunged into poverty.
The interior of a C-17 cargo plane, loaded with humanitarian commodities bound for Venezuela, awaits takeoff at Homestead Air Reserve Base in Homestead, Florida. The United States is airlifting and pre-positioning additional humanitarian aid to provide relief to tens of thousands of Venezuelans suffering from severe food and medicine shortages.
Nurses, doctors and other professionals are sworn in by Venezuela’s interim president Juan Guaidó in Caracas, pledging to help with the arrival and distribution of humanitarian aid in Venezuela.
Packets of USAID Ready to Use Supplementary Food are displayed by an envoy of Venezuela’s interim president, Juan Guaidó, at Camilo Daza airport in Cúcuta, Colombia. The packets are part of the humanitarian aid flown in on U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo planes to help the people of Venezuela.
UPDATE: The U.S. continues to respond to the request of Interim
President @JGuaido of #Venezuela for humanitarian assistance. Aid
delivered to #Colombia is being pre-positioned near the border with#Venezuela. And more is on the way! pic.twitter.com/pB8e8LgBoE— Mark Green (@USAIDMarkGreen) February 17, 2019
