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Bogota: The Venezuelan opposition was on Monday preparing to bring humanitarian aid into the country from Colombia and Brazil, in defiance of pledges by President Nicolas Maduro to mobilize the army against any such move.
Opposition leader Juan Guaido called on Venezuelans to enlist as volunteers to help with the receiving, stocking and distribution of the aid, tweeting that nearly 100,000 people had already done so. “Organization and mobilizing everyone will be key to make the aid enter and achieve the end of the usurpation [by Maduro],” Guaido tweeted.
The opposition leader, who declared himself interim president on January 23 and won the recognition of a large number of countries, has appealed for aid to help hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who he says are facing acute food and medicine shortages.
Maduro, who won a May election widely regarded as undemocratic, has presided over hyperinflation and a plunge in oil production. Millions of Venezuelans have fled abroad to escape the economic crisis and political unrest.
About 100 tons of humanitarian aid are currently waiting in the Colombian border city of Cucuta after Venezuela blocked a key border bridge.
Preparations were meanwhile under way to set up a second aid collection centre in the Brazilian border state of Roraima, Guaido’s representative Lester Toledo said.
“The aid is a reality and making it reach those who need it is everyone’s responsibility,” opposition legislator Miguel Pizarro tweeted. (dpa)
Opposition leader Juan Guaido called on Venezuelans to enlist as volunteers to help with the receiving, stocking and distribution of the aid, tweeting that nearly 100,000 people had already done so. “Organization and mobilizing everyone will be key to make the aid enter and achieve the end of the usurpation [by Maduro],” Guaido tweeted.
The opposition leader, who declared himself interim president on January 23 and won the recognition of a large number of countries, has appealed for aid to help hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who he says are facing acute food and medicine shortages.
Maduro, who won a May election widely regarded as undemocratic, has presided over hyperinflation and a plunge in oil production. Millions of Venezuelans have fled abroad to escape the economic crisis and political unrest.
About 100 tons of humanitarian aid are currently waiting in the Colombian border city of Cucuta after Venezuela blocked a key border bridge.
Preparations were meanwhile under way to set up a second aid collection centre in the Brazilian border state of Roraima, Guaido’s representative Lester Toledo said.
“The aid is a reality and making it reach those who need it is everyone’s responsibility,” opposition legislator Miguel Pizarro tweeted. (dpa)
