During the
presidential crisis between the
Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
n governments of
Nicolás Maduro
Nicolás Maduro Moros (; born 23 November 1962) is a Venezuelan politician and former union leader serving as the 53rd president of Venezuela since 2013. Previously, he was the 24th Vice President of Venezuela, vice president from 2012 to 20 ...
and
Juan Guaidó
Juan Gerardo Antonio Guaidó Márquez (born 28 July 1983) is a Venezuelan politician and opposition figure. He belonged to the social-democratic party Popular Will, and was a federal deputy to the National Assembly representing the state of V ...
, a coalition of
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
,
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
, the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
attempted to bring essential goods as a response to
shortages in Venezuela
Shortages in Venezuela of food staples and basic necessities occurred throughout Venezuela's history. Scarcity became more widespread following the enactment of price controls and other policies under the government of Hugo Chávez and exac ...
. The three main bases used for the operation are: the Colombian city of
Cúcuta
Cúcuta (), officially San José de Cúcuta, is a Colombian municipality, capital of the department of Norte de Santander and nucleus of the Metropolitan Area of Cúcuta. The city is located in the homonymous valley, at the foot of the East ...
, the Brazilian state of
Roraima
Roraima ( ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil. Located in the country's North Region, it is the northernmost and most geographically and logistically isolated state in Brazil. It is bordered by the state of Pará to the southeast, Amazonas t ...
, (specifically
Boa Vista and
Pacaraima
Pacaraima () is a municipality located in the northwest of the state of Roraima in Brazil. It is second most northern municipality in Brazil, behind Uiramutã.
Located here within Indigenous Land San Marcos is a major indigenous artifact. Ped ...
), and the island of
Curaçao
Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela.
Curaçao includ ...
, of the
Kingdom of the Netherlands
The Kingdom of the Netherlands (, ;, , ), commonly known simply as the Netherlands, is a sovereign state consisting of a collection of constituent territories united under the monarch of the Netherlands, who functions as head of state. The re ...
.
Shortages in Venezuela have occurred since the presidency of
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; ; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician, Bolivarian Revolution, revolutionary, and Officer (armed forces), military officer who served as the 52nd president of Venezuela from 1999 until De ...
, with the country experiencing a scarcity rate of 24.7% in January 2008.
Shortages became commonplace in the country in 2012.
Since Maduro attained the presidency in 2013, he has denied that there was a humanitarian crisis in the country and refused international aid, making conditions in Venezuela worse. Maduro blamed the shortages on an economic war being waged by foreign adversaries, such as the United States, and claims that the problems in Venezuela are due to the economic sanctions against the state-run oil company
PDVSA
Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (acronym PDVSA, , English language, English: Petroleum of Venezuela) is the Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas company. It has activities in exploration, production, refining and exporting oil as well as e ...
.
Guaidó and
Miguel Pizarro
Miguel Alejandro Pizarro Rodríguez (born February 17, 1988) is a Venezuelan politician in the National Assembly (Venezuela), National Assembly who represents Petare in Caracas.
Early life
Around the time of his birth, Pizarro's family moved to ...
made partial delivery of the first shipment of humanitarian aid to the Association of Health Centers (ASSOVEC) on 11 February 2019.
On 23 February 2019, a joint operation from all coalition countries by land and sea attempted to deliver humanitarian aid to Venezuela. At the Colombia–Venezuela border, the caravans were tear-gassed or shot at with rubber bullets by Venezuelan personnel as they crossed bridges and ultimately blocked.
According to a report released by the Office of the Inspector General at the
U.S. Agency for International Development only 8 out of 368 tons of aid reached the country.
In a December 2019 survey by Venezuelan pollster Meganalisis, 85.5% of respondents said that they did not receive support from international humanitarian aid, 7.9% said they did receive aid and 6.5% were unsure if they received humanitarian aid.
Shortages in Venezuela
The
National Assembly of Venezuela
The National Assembly () is the federal legislature of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which was first elected in 2000 under the 1999 constitution. It is a unicameral body made up of a variable number of members, who are elected by a ...
, with an opposition majority, declared a "humanitarian health crisis" on 24 January 2016, in view of "the serious shortage of medicines, medical supplies and deterioration of the humanitarian infrastructure", demanding from the government of
Nicolás Maduro
Nicolás Maduro Moros (; born 23 November 1962) is a Venezuelan politician and former union leader serving as the 53rd president of Venezuela since 2013. Previously, he was the 24th Vice President of Venezuela, vice president from 2012 to 20 ...
"guarantee immediately access to the list of essential medicines that are basic, indispensable and imprescindible and must be accessible at all times".
In a September 2017 ''
Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...
'' interview with
president of the Constituent Assembly Delcy Rodríguez
Delcy Eloína Rodríguez Gómez (born 18 May 1969) is a Venezuelan lawyer, diplomat, and politician who has served as the vice president of Venezuela since 2018. Rodríguez has held several positions during the presidencies of Hugo Chávez and ...
, she stated, "I have denied and continue denying that Venezuela has a humanitarian crisis". As a result, international intervention in Venezuela would not be justified. She also described statements by Venezuelans calling for international assistance as "
treasonous".
On 18 October 2018, the United States sent the
USNS ''Comfort'' hospital ship to South America to assist those affected by the
Venezuelan refugee crisis
The Venezuelan refugee crisis, the List of largest refugee crises, largest recorded refugee crisis in the Americas,
*
*
*
*
refers to the emigration of millions of Venezuelans from their native country during the presidencies of Hugo C ...
. The main goal was to relieve health systems in neighboring countries which faced the arrival of thousands of Venezuelan migrants. Three months later on 29 January 2019, the United States announced its intention to open a humanitarian corridor in Venezuela.
In a February 2019
BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
interview with correspondent
Orla Guerin
Orla Guerin Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, MBE ( ; born 15 May 1966) is an Irish people, Irish journalist. She is a Senior International correspondent working for BBC News broadcasting around the world and across the U ...
, President Maduro has stated that "Venezuela is not a country of famine. It has very high levels of nutrients and access to food". He also claimed that the United States was intending to create a humanitarian crisis in order to justify a military intervention there. Joint studies shared that same month by ENCOVI, a group of researchers from
Andrés Bello Catholic University
Andrés Bello Catholic University () is a private university in Venezuela. One of the largest universities in Venezuela, UCAB has campuses in several cities, such as Caracas (main campus), Los Teques, Guayana Region, Guayana, and Coro region, Cor ...
,
Central University of Venezuela
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
and
Simón Bolívar University, showed that in Venezuelan households,
multidimensional poverty affected 51%, 80% suffered from
food insecurity
Food security is the state of having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, healthy food. The availability of food for people of any class, gender, ethnicity, or religion is another element of food protection. Similarly, househo ...
and 90% did not have an income to purchase any food.
Creation of the coalition
On 2 February 2019,
Juan Guaidó
Juan Gerardo Antonio Guaidó Márquez (born 28 July 1983) is a Venezuelan politician and opposition figure. He belonged to the social-democratic party Popular Will, and was a federal deputy to the National Assembly representing the state of V ...
, the National Assembly-declared acting president, announced the existence of a "humanitarian aid coalition" that comes from Colombia, Brazil and a Caribbean island.
On 5 February 2019 the foreign ministers of the United States, Brazil and Colombia met in the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
, in which
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
Michael Richard Pompeo (; born December 30, 1963) is an American retired politician who served in the First presidency of Donald Trump#Administration, first administration of Donald Trump as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) fr ...
and
National Security Advisor John R. Bolton
John Robert Bolton (born November 20, 1948) is an American attorney, diplomat, Republican consultant, and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to 2006, and as the 26th United Sta ...
were also present to discuss the issue of possible humanitarian aid. In their official message they showed that the opposition government of Guaidó was willing to support them in the land entry to Venezuela.
Guaidó called the operation a test of the military: "In a few weeks they will have to choose if they let much needed aid into the country, or if they side with Nicolas Maduro."
Guaidó also warned that the Maduro administration had plans to "steal the products for humanitarian purposes that entered the country".
This included plans to distribute these products through the government's
food distribution program CLAP—a program from which, according to the 2017
Venezuelan Attorney General and Mexican prosecutors, Maduro personally profits.
''VoluntariosXVenezuela''
In mid-February, Guaidó reported that a web page called ''www.voluntariosxvenezuela.com'' had been set up for the registration of any person who wanted to volunteer to enter the humanitarian aid planned for 23 February. Days later, in the act of swearing in of thousands of volunteers present in the parking lot of the headquarters of the newspaper ''
El Nacional'', Guaidó indicated that in "a few hours" some 600,000 Venezuelans had already registered; in addition, several guilds among them belonging to the transport and health sectors, demonstrated at the event to show their support for the movement.
Between 12 and 13 February, users of state-run internet provider
CANTV
CANTV () is the state-run telephone and internet service provider in Venezuela. It was one of the first telephone service enterprises in the country, founded in 1930. The largest telecommunications provider in Venezuela, it was privatized in 19 ...
that tried to access the website were victims of
phishing
Phishing is a form of social engineering and a scam where attackers deceive people into revealing sensitive information or installing malware such as viruses, worms, adware, or ransomware. Phishing attacks have become increasingly sophisticate ...
schemes. This manipulation was denounced as a technique to identify dissidents to the government. Following the phishing incident, the official site was completely blocked for CANTV users on 16 February.
February 2019 effort

According to ''France 24'', Guaidó has made bringing humanitarian aid to the "hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who could die if aid does not arrive" a priority, and a test of the military's allegiance.
He also requested aid from the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
.
Guaidó said Venezuela's neighbors, in a "global coalition to send aid to Venezuela", will help get humanitarian aid and medicine into the country; products will be shipped to neighboring ports and brought overland via convoys.
Guaidó began to lead nationwide demonstrations in early February, demanding the entrance of humanitarian aid into Venezuela, with hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans protesting in support.
The administration of Nicolás Maduro deployed police officers at all land borders beginning on 5 February; in response, the United States threatened to send military personnel to Colombia and Brazil to protect those in charge of delivering the aid. Shortly after the announcement that international humanitarian aid would enter via the
Colombia–Venezuela border
The Colombia–Venezuela border is an international border of 2219 kilometers (1378 mi) between Colombia and Venezuela, with a total of 603 milestones that demarcate the line. It is the longest border of both Colombia and Venezuela.
The b ...
,
PSUV
The United Socialist Party of Venezuela (, PSUV, ) is a socialist political party which has been the ruling party of Venezuela since 2007. It was formed from a merger of some of the political and social forces that support the Bolivarian Revolu ...
politician and former elite policeman
Freddy Bernal
Freddy Alirio Bernal Rosales is a Venezuelan politician. He served as mayor of the Libertador Municipality in Caracas and is a member of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).
Law enforcement
Prior to becoming a politician, the BBC s ...
appeared at the border with members of the armed forces and the
FAES
The FAES (Fundación para el Análisis y los Estudios Sociales or "Foundation for Analysis and Social Studies" in English) is a Spanish think tank. It is a non-profit liberal-conservative organisation with strong links to the People's Party (Spai ...
.
On 6 February, humanitarian aid from the United States arrived in Colombia, to be delivered and distributed in Venezuela. That same day,
Brazilian Foreign Minister Ernesto Araújo hinted that the base of operations of humanitarian aid in Brazil would be
Pacaraima
Pacaraima () is a municipality located in the northwest of the state of Roraima in Brazil. It is second most northern municipality in Brazil, behind Uiramutã.
Located here within Indigenous Land San Marcos is a major indigenous artifact. Ped ...
. In parallel, the government of Nicolás Maduro blocked the
Tienditas International Bridge with cargo containers, already closed since its completion in 2016, which connects Cúcuta and the Venezuelan municipality of Ureña.
The next day, as the Colombian government transported cargo to Cúcuta, a group of Venezuelan refugees met them with support signs with the phrase "''Ayuda humanitaria ya''" ("Humanitarian aid now"). As the first trucks with aid, escorted by Colombian police, approached the blocked bridge on 7 February, human rights activists received them, and Venezuela's communications minister, Jorge Rodriguez said there was a plot between Colombia, the
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
and exiled Venezuelan politician
Julio Borges
Julio Andrés Borges Junyent (born 22 October 1969 in Caracas) is a Venezuelan politician and lawyer. In the late 1990s he had a TV court show called "Justicia Para Todos" on Radio Caracas Televisión. He co-founded the party Primero Justicia ...
to oust Maduro.
While Guaidó attempted to secure international aid, Maduro shipped over 100 tons of aid to Cuba following
a tornado that devastated Havana. Under case file SC-2017-003, the
Supreme Tribunal of Justice of Venezuela in exile
The Supreme Tribunal of Justice of Venezuela (TSJ) in exile is an institution that some, including the Organization of American States, consider to be the legitimate highest court of law in Venezuela and the head of the judicial branch, as oppos ...
announced the authorization for the entry of an international military coalition to secure the entry and protection of humanitarian aid to Venezuela.
Maduro voiced his opinions about why he had denied international aid, stating "With humanitarian aid they want to treat us like beggars ... in Venezuela we have the capacity to take care of our children and women. There is no humanitarian crisis here." In a later BBC interview, Maduro said, "
e
Ku Klux Klan
The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...
that governs the White House today wants to seize Venezuela" and that "Venezuela is not a country of famine. It has very high levels of nutrients and access to food." As events unfolded, Venezuelan
Vice President
A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...
Delcy Rodríguez
Delcy Eloína Rodríguez Gómez (born 18 May 1969) is a Venezuelan lawyer, diplomat, and politician who has served as the vice president of Venezuela since 2018. Rodríguez has held several positions during the presidencies of Hugo Chávez and ...
claimed that humanitarian aid provided by the United States was "carcinogenic" and part of a plot to kill Venezuelan citizens.
She also claimed that "this so-called food from the United States aims to poison our population with chemicals" and described it as "biological weapons".
USAID
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian United States foreign aid, foreign aid and development assistance.
Established in 19 ...
administrator
Mark Green described the allegations as "absurd". Venezuelan deputy and medic
José Manuel Olivares
José Manuel Olivares Marquina (born 19 August 1985) is a Venezuelan politician, oncologist and nuclear medicine physician who served as a deputy of the National Assembly from Vargas from 2016 to 2021. During his tenure, he was the president of t ...
dismissed her claims, clarifying that "the aid has quality control and sanitary registry of Colombia, Brazil and the United States." Delcy's remarks were also dismissed by the United States, saying that the Maduro government "would go to any length to lie and deny reality".
Guaidó issued an 11-day ultimatum to the Venezuelan Armed Forces on 12 February, stating that humanitarian aid will enter Venezuela on 23 February and that the armed forces "will have to decide if it will be on the side of the Venezuelans and the Constitution or the usurper".
Leaders of
Pemon
The Pemon or Pemón (Pemong) are Indigenous people living in areas of Venezuela, Brazil, and Guyana.See pp.112,113 and 178 of ''Venezuela: the Pemon'', in '' Condé Nast Traveler'', December 2008. The Pemon people are divided into many dialects ...
groups stated on 9 February that they would not abide by Maduro's orders and would allow aid into Venezuela through its border with Brazil.
Mayor Emilio Gonzalez of
Gran Sabana
La Gran Sabana (, ) is a region in southeastern Venezuela, part of the Guianan savanna ecoregion.
The savanna spreads into the regions of the Guiana Shield, Guiana Highlands and south-east into Bolívar, Venezuela, Bolívar State, extending fu ...
stated that "Neither the National Guard not the government can stop this" while another Pemon leader Angel Paez stated "If humanitarian aid arrives and is prevented from entering, we will suspend the entry of government trucks too."
Former
Amazonas governor
Liborio Guarulla
Liborio Guarulla Garrido is an indigenous Venezuelan politician. He is of Baniwa ethnicity. He served as governor of Amazonas state from 2001 to 2017.
Early life
Guarulla was born on July 23, 1954, in the Amazonas town of La Isleta, in the Mar ...
announced on 14 February that the humanitarian aid started entering in the Amazonas state through the
Guainía,
Atabapo and
Orinoco
The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers approximately 1 million km2, with 65% of it in Venezuela and 35% in Colombia. It is the List of rivers by discharge, f ...
rivers with help of NGO's, the Colombian government and indigenous organizations. A plane of the
Brazilian Air Force
The Brazilian Air Force (, FAB) is the air branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces and one of the three national uniformed services. The FAB was formed when the Brazilian Brazilian Army Aviation (1919–1941), Army and Brazilian Naval Aviation, Nav ...
carrying humanitarian aid to Venezuelans traveled to Boa Vista on 20 February, capital of the border state of Roraima providing 23 tons of powdered milk and 500 first-aid kits. Brazil pledged to make humanitarian aid available at the town of
Pacaraima
Pacaraima () is a municipality located in the northwest of the state of Roraima in Brazil. It is second most northern municipality in Brazil, behind Uiramutã.
Located here within Indigenous Land San Marcos is a major indigenous artifact. Ped ...
on its side of the
Brazil–Venezuela border
The Brazil–Venezuela border is the limit that separates the territories of Brazil and Venezuela. It was delimited by the Treaty of Limits and River Navigation of May 5, 1859 and ratified by the Protocol of 1929. The geographical boundary begin ...
so Venezuelans can drive it into their country.
Humanitarian campsites were installed in at least ten states across Venezuela by 17 February; the
Directorate General of Military Counterintelligence detained seven people that were installing the awnings, chairs and sound equipment of the humanitarian campsite in
Maracay
Maracay () is a city in north-central Venezuela, near the Caribbean coast, and is the capital and most important city of the state of Aragua. Most of it falls under the jurisdiction of Girardot Municipality. The population of Maracay and its ...
. Maduro's government closed airways and its maritime borders with the
Dutch Caribbean islands of
Aruba
Aruba, officially the Country of Aruba, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in the southern Caribbean Sea north of the Venezuelan peninsula of Paraguaná Peninsula, Paraguaná and northwest of Curaçao. In 19 ...
,
Bonaire
Bonaire is a Caribbean island in the Leeward Antilles, and is a Caribbean Netherlands, special municipality (officially Public body (Netherlands), "public body") of the Netherlands. Its capital is the port of Kralendijk, on the west (Windward an ...
, and
Curaçao
Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela.
Curaçao includ ...
on 19 February, in a move that Curaçao officials say is to prevent aid from entering.
British businessman and philanthropist
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate who co-founded the Virgin Group in 1970, and controlled 5 companies remaining of once more than 400.
Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneu ...
produced a charity concert called
Venezuela Aid Live
Venezuela Aid Live was a benefit concert, concert to benefit Venezuela in Cúcuta, Colombia, a city near the Venezuelan border, on 22 February 2019. The all-day concert, called ''Música por Venezuela: Ayuda y Libertad'' (), was organized by Rich ...
on 22 February to raise funds for humanitarian aid and raise awareness of the crisis in Venezuela. The Maduro government responded by saying it would hold a
rival concert called "Hands off Venezuela" on the
Simón Bolívar International Bridge on 22 February.
The Constituent Assembly President,
Diosdado Cabello
Diosdado Cabello Rondón (born 15 April 1963Vicepresidencia de la República Bolivariana de VenezuelaDiosdado Cabello Rondón, accessed 19 April 2010) is a Venezuelan politician who currently serves as Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace s ...
, threatened that any planes that tried to bring aid into the country would be shot down.
Incidents
Brazilian border

Humanitarian aid was stockpiled on the Brazilian border, with the intent to bring it into Venezuela. On 20 February,
Dragoon 300 armoured fighting vehicle
An armoured fighting vehicle (British English) or armored fighting vehicle (American English) (AFV) is an armed combat vehicle protected by vehicle armour, armour, generally combining operational mobility with Offensive (military), offensive a ...
s of the
Armored Cavalry Squadron were seen entering the
Gran Sabana region. Groups of indigenous
Pemon
The Pemon or Pemón (Pemong) are Indigenous people living in areas of Venezuela, Brazil, and Guyana.See pp.112,113 and 178 of ''Venezuela: the Pemon'', in '' Condé Nast Traveler'', December 2008. The Pemon people are divided into many dialects ...
peoples blocked the entry of the military vehicles into the region,
and members of armed forces loyal to Maduro fired upon them with live ammunition on 22 February.
Fifteen Pemon were injured, four seriously, and two Pemon were killed.
The injured were transferred to Brazil due to the shortage of medical supplies in the Venezuelan hospital of Santa Elena de Uairén.
Following the crackdown, indigenous groups detained thirty-six soldiers and held them in the jungle.
Deputy Américo de Grazia, denounced the lack of medicine and ambulances to transport the wounded.
Near the Brazil–Venezuela border, more than 2,000 indigenous people from Gran Sabana gathered to assist with the entrance of international aid.
Venezuelan authorities issued a capture order of the mayor of Gran Sabana and of the Pemon chieftains, accusing them of rebellion. The Venezuelan National Guard repressed demonstrations near Brazil, while
colectivos attacked protesters in
San Antonio del Táchira
San Antonio del Táchira is a city in the Venezuelan Andean state of Táchira. The busy highway across the Simón Bolívar International Bridge linking the cities of Cúcuta, Colombia, and San Cristóbal, Venezuela, passes through San Antonio ...
and
Ureña Ureña or Urena may refer to:
*''Urena'', a genus of plants
**''Urena lobata''
*Ureña, Táchira, a community in Táchira State, Venezuela
*Ureña SC, a football club in the Venezuelan Primera División, based in Ureña, Táchira
* Count of Ureñ ...
, leaving at least four dead and about 20 injured.
Former governor
Andrés Velásquez
Andrés Velásquez is a Venezuelan politician of the Radical Cause (''La Causa Radical'') party.
Career
Formerly the general secretary of the steelworkers union of SIDOR, he became one of the leaders of Radical Cause after the death of its fo ...
declared that fourteen people were killed and that many of them had gunshots wounds in their heads, indicating involvement of snipers. He further explained that "many have died due to lack of attention because the Santa Elena hospital does not have blood,
saline solution
Saline (also known as saline solution) is a mixture of sodium chloride (salt) and water. It has a number of uses in medicine including cleaning wounds, removal and storage of contact lenses, and help with dry eyes. By injection into a vein, i ...
, reactives nor oxygen, or operating rooms to intervene the patients", that the people died bleeding and the hospital personnel could not do anything to help them. Two ambulances carrying dead and wounded crossed the Brazil–Venezuela border and took them to the Roraima General Hospital, in
Boa Vista, where medic records documented that everyone had gunshots wounds. US senator
Marco Rubio
Marco Antonio Rubio (; born May 28, 1971) is an American politician, lawyer, and diplomat serving since 2025 as the 72nd United States Secretary of State, United States secretary of state. A member of the Republican Party (United States) , Rep ...
declared that Cuban agents directed repression in Ureña.
Romel Guzamana, a representative of the indigenous community in Gran Sabana, stated that at least 25 Pemon were killed in what NTN24 described as a "massacre" by Venezuelan troops.
Colectivos and the Venezuelan National Guard killed at least four and injured twenty-four more during border conflicts in
Santa Elena de Uairén
Santa Elena de Uairén () is a small Venezuelan city (29,795 inhabitants in 2006) in the state of Bolívar State (Venezuela), Bolívar near the border with Brazil and Guyana. It was founded by Lucas Fernández Peña in 1923. The city's name origin ...
early on 23 February.
A Venezuelan army post near Santa Elena de Uairén was attacked with molotov cocktails and stones.
Aid trucks destined to travel from Brazil into Venezuela did not enter Venezuela and returned to their departure points.
The Brazilian Army reported that Venezuelan authorities fired live ammunition at those attempting to accept aid
and that tear gas from Venezuela was fired into the Brazilian border city of
Pacaraima
Pacaraima () is a municipality located in the northwest of the state of Roraima in Brazil. It is second most northern municipality in Brazil, behind Uiramutã.
Located here within Indigenous Land San Marcos is a major indigenous artifact. Ped ...
. By the end of the conflict, Romel Guzamana, a representative of the indigenous community in Gran Sabana, stated that at least 25 Pemon were killed in what NTN24 described as a "massacre" by Venezuelan troops.
Colombian border
Thousands accompany a caravan of aid trucks towards the Colombia–Venezuela border. Guaidó headed a caravan of 300 people, briefly appearing on the lead truck as it left Cúcuta for Venezuelan territory.
Maduro announces the severing of diplomatic relations with Colombia. Pro-Maduro paramilitaries fired upon demonstrators demanding aid in
San Antonio del Táchira
San Antonio del Táchira is a city in the Venezuelan Andean state of Táchira. The busy highway across the Simón Bolívar International Bridge linking the cities of Cúcuta, Colombia, and San Cristóbal, Venezuela, passes through San Antonio ...
. According to opposition deputy Gaby Arellano, of the five trucks that attempted to enter Venezuela from Colombia, two were lost to fire, two were stolen by Maduro loyalists and one returned to Colombia. Both Colombia and Venezuela closed their joint border, leaving many Venezuelans trapped in Colombia and seeking shelter in makeshift camps.
On the Francisco de Paula de Santander Bridge, Venezuelan National Police wept while being confronted by Venezuelans begging for the entrance of international aid. Venezuelan National Police on the bridge then retreated further into Venezuelan territory as the aid caravan approached. As trucks crossed the bridge, Venezuelan authorities fired tear gas upon the protesters who responded with rocks and molotov cocktails
and some trucks burst into flames.
Aid volunteers formed a human chain and removed humanitarian packages from the burning trucks to prevent their destruction, with a good portion of the supplies being saved and returned to Colombia.
Later in the day, protesters responded Venezuelan
colectivos and military with molotov cocktails and stones.
On 23 February, trucks with humanitarian aid attempted to pass into Venezuela from Brazil and Colombia, opposed by Maduro's administration.
At the Colombia–Venezuela border, the caravans were tear-gassed or shot at with rubber bullets by Venezuelan personnel as they crossed bridges.
Protesters near the caravans responded by throwing stones and molotov cocktails at Venezuelan authorities in order to gain entrance into Venezuela later in the day.
According to deputy Gaby Arellano, of the five trucks that attempted to enter Venezuela from Colombia, two were lost to a fire, two were stolen by Maduro loyalists and one returned to Colombia. The president of the Venezuelan National Assembly's Health Subcommission
José Manuel Olivares
José Manuel Olivares Marquina (born 19 August 1985) is a Venezuelan politician, oncologist and nuclear medicine physician who served as a deputy of the National Assembly from Vargas from 2016 to 2021. During his tenure, he was the president of t ...
was physically assaulted at the Colombian–Venezuelan border, reportedly by the member of a
colectivo
''Colectivo'' ( English: collective bus) is the name given in Argentina to a type of public transportation vehicle, especially those of Argentina's capital city, Buenos Aires. The name comes from ''vehículos de transporte colectivo'' ("vehicl ...
. Deputy
Freddy Superlano was reportedly poisoned in Cúcuta, and his assistant died from the same incident.
The opposition asked for an investigation, without making "claims on who the culprits were".
[ A sister of a deceased National Guardsman denounced that her brother was killed by another officer when he asked for a discharge in the border.
]
Puerto Rican shipment
A ship originating from Puerto Rico attempted to deliver humanitarian aid via the port at Puerto Cabello
Puerto Cabello () is a city on the north coast of Venezuela. It is located in Carabobo State, about 210 km west of Caracas. As of 2011, the city had a population of around 182,400. The city is home to the largest and busiest port in the count ...
, Venezuela, but the vessel, carrying civilians, returned after the Bolivarian Navy of Venezuela
The Bolivarian Navy of Venezuela (), commonly known as the Venezuelan Navy, is the naval branch of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela.
The Venezuelan Navy serves the purpose of defending the naval sovereignty of Venezuela, includ ...
threatened to "open fire" on it. Six vessels of the Bolivarian Navy of Venezuela
The Bolivarian Navy of Venezuela (), commonly known as the Venezuelan Navy, is the naval branch of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela.
The Venezuelan Navy serves the purpose of defending the naval sovereignty of Venezuela, includ ...
, including the Mariscal Sucre-class frigate ''Almirante Brion'' and patrol boats, were deployed to prevent the entry of the aid shipment. Governor of Puerto Rico
The governor of Puerto Rico () is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. Elected to a 4 year-term through popular vote by the residents of the archipelago and island, ...
Ricardo Rosselló
Ricardo Antonio Rosselló Nevares (; born March 7, 1979) is an American former politician, businessman, neurobiologist and educator. He served as Governor of Puerto Rico from 2017 until his resignation in 2019. In 2021, he returned to active ...
, who ordered the return of the ship, stated that the act by the Venezuelan Navy was "unacceptable and shameful" and that Puerto Rico "notified our partners in the U.S. government about this serious incident".
Aftermath of 23 February
By the end of the day, a preliminary report by the Organization of American States
The Organization of American States (OAS or OEA; ; ; ) is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas.
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, the OAS is ...
(OAS) reported more than 285 injured, and former governor Andrés Velásquez
Andrés Velásquez is a Venezuelan politician of the Radical Cause (''La Causa Radical'') party.
Career
Formerly the general secretary of the steelworkers union of SIDOR, he became one of the leaders of Radical Cause after the death of its fo ...
reported as many as 14 deaths in the clashes. Reuters said that no aid destined for Venezuelan was able to enter the country. Maduro danced at a rally with his wife while the attempted entry of humanitarian aid was taking place, which CNN reported was attended by public employees whose jobs depend on Maduro.
Border clashes continued with Brazil and Brazilian patrols arrived at the border to prevent the violation of the territorial space by Venezuelan Armed Forces.
From 24 to 25 February, there were continued Colombian border clashes between protestors and '' colectivos''; Venezuelan authorities fired upon protesters who threw rocks and molotov cocktails, and Colombian border police in Colombian territory near the Simón Bolívar International Bridge. Venezuelan National Guardsmen also fired live ammunition against protesters and Colombian policemen.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (the IACHR or, in the three other official languages Spanish, French, and Portuguese language, Portuguese CIDH, ''Comisión Interamericana de los Derechos Humanos'', ''Commission Interaméricaine des ...
(IACHR) asked the Venezuelan Armed Forces to abstain using force and to allow free transit.
Guaidó said the world "had 'been able to see with their own eyes' how Maduro had violated international law. 'The Geneva protocols clearly state that destroying humanitarian aid is a crime against humanity,' he said."[ Venezuelan Vice President ]Delcy Rodríguez
Delcy Eloína Rodríguez Gómez (born 18 May 1969) is a Venezuelan lawyer, diplomat, and politician who has served as the vice president of Venezuela since 2018. Rodríguez has held several positions during the presidencies of Hugo Chávez and ...
declared that "they saw only a little piece of what we are willing to do", and Diosdado Cabello stated "we showed the tip of the iceberg".
Humanitarian aid fire cause
The cause of the fire that consumed humanitarian aid on 23 February is disputed. Eyewitnesses accounts attribute the source of the fire to tear gas canisters fired by the Venezuelan personnel. Unpublished footage examined by ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' published on 10 March suggested that the fire may have been accidentally started by a molotov cocktail thrown by an anti-government protester. Colombian foreign minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo
Carlos Holmes Trujillo García (23 September 1951 – 26 January 2021) was a Colombian dynasty politician, diplomat, scholar, and attorney who served as minister of defense, foreign affairs, interior, and education. He also served as the mayor ...
rejected the claims by ''The New York Times'' that the Colombian government manipulated the video of the burning of the aid truck, insisting that Nicolás Maduro was responsible. Responding when asked about the claims in a BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
interview, Juan Guaidó
Juan Gerardo Antonio Guaidó Márquez (born 28 July 1983) is a Venezuelan politician and opposition figure. He belonged to the social-democratic party Popular Will, and was a federal deputy to the National Assembly representing the state of V ...
stressed that its findings suggested only a possible theory, that it was the newspaper's point of view and that a total of three trucks were burned, while the footage focused on one. A group of around 30 Venezuelans protested outside ''The New York Times'' offices in United States, questioning the newspaper's "partiality" and criticized the moment of the publication which occurred while Venezuela suffered from a nationwide blackout. Journalist Karla Salcedo Flores denounced state-run Telesur
Telesur (stylized as teleSUR) is a Latin American terrestrial and satellite news television network headquartered in Caracas, Venezuela, and sponsored by the governments of Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.
First proposed in 2005 and subsidized ...
for plagiarism and the manipulation of her photos for propaganda purposes after the network claimed protesters poured gasoline on the trucks. Agence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse (; AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency.
With 2,400 employees of 100 nationalities, AFP has an editorial presence in 260 c ...
published an investigation disproving Telesur's claims with the photos. Bellingcat
Bellingcat (stylised bell¿ngcat) is a Netherlands-based investigative journalism group that specialises in fact-checking and open-source intelligence (OSINT). It was founded by British citizen journalist and former blogger Eliot Higgins in Ju ...
reported that since the open source evidence examined for its investigation does not show the moment of ignition, it is not possible to make a definitive determination regarding the cause of the fire.
Deputy Miguel Pizarro
Miguel Alejandro Pizarro Rodríguez (born February 17, 1988) is a Venezuelan politician in the National Assembly (Venezuela), National Assembly who represents Petare in Caracas.
Early life
Around the time of his birth, Pizarro's family moved to ...
informed that the National Assembly would denounce the burning of the trucks transporting aid in the International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute ...
.
The United States and a number of other nations staged a walkout at the United Nations Conference on Disarmament when Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza
Jorge Alberto Arreaza Montserrat (Venezuelan ; born 6 June 1973) is a Venezuelan politician who has held several important positions in the administration of President Hugo Chávez and his successor Nicolás Maduro. From August 2017 to August ...
was preparing to begin his speech, boycotting him. Salcedo Flores denounced again the misuse of her photos by Arreaza and dismissed the claim that the photos represented any evidence of the alleged crimes committed by the protesters.
Red Cross aid effort
Francesco Rocca
Francesco Rocca (; born 2 August 1954) is an Italian professional association football, football coach and former player, who played as a defender (association football), defender. He spent his entire career with Italian club A.S. Roma, Roma, w ...
, president of the , announced on 29 March 2019 that the Red Cross was preparing to bring humanitarian aid to the country to help ease both the chronic hunger and the medical crisis. ''The Guardian'' reported that Maduro had "long denied the existence of a humanitarian crisis, and on 23 February blocked an effort led by Guaidó to bring aid into the country", and that the Red Cross had "brokered a deal" between the Maduro and Guaidó administrations "indicating a seldom-seen middle ground between the two men".
The Red Cross aid shipments were expected to begin within a few weeks, and the first shipment would help about 650,000 people; simultaneously, a leaked UN report estimated that 7 million Venezuelans were likely in need of humanitarian assistance. During what ''The Wall Street Journal'' called "Latin America's worst humanitarian crisis ever", the "operation would rival Red Cross relief efforts in war-torn Syria, signaling the depth of Venezuela's crisis." Rocca said the efforts would focus first on hospitals, including state-run facilities, and said the Red Cross was open to the possibility of delivering aid products stored on the Venezuelan borders with Colombia and Brazil, if the products meet standards.[ Also availabl]
online.
/ref> The first shipments of medical supplies will bypass the government and go to eight clinics run by the Red Cross in Venezuela. Because of the additional problems caused by the 2019 Venezuelan blackouts
Nationwide recurring electrical blackouts in Venezuela began in March 2019. Experts and state-run Corpoelec (Corporación Eléctrica Nacional) sources attribute the electricity shortages to lack of maintenance and to a lack of technical expert ...
, the Red Cross hopes to also provide hospitals with power plants. Rocca warned that the Red Cross would not accept any political interference, and said the effort must be "independent, neutral, impartial and unhindered".
The ''Wall Street Journal'' said that the acceptance of humanitarian shipments by Maduro was his first acknowledgement that Venezuela is "suffering from an economic collapse", adding that "until a few days ago, the government maintained there was no crisis and it didn't need outside help". Guaidó said the acceptance of humanitarian aid was the "result of our pressure and insistence",[ Also availabl]
online.
/ref> and called on Venezuelans to "stay vigilant to make sure incoming aid is not diverted for 'corrupt' purposes". Maduro and Arreaza met with representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a humanitarian organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a three-time Nobel Prize laureate. The organization has played an instrumental role in the development of rules of war and ...
(ICRC) on 9 April, and Maduro, for the first time, indicated he prepared to accept international aid—although denying a humanitarian crisis exists. Red Cross was allowed access to prisons in Venezuela for first time since before Chávez died, ranging from prisons holding largely foreigners to prisons holding largely political prisoners to military detention centers. Iris Varela, prisons minister said the delegates were invited so they could share the amazing quality of Venezuelan reform centers with the world. The ICRC announced a day later that there was an agreement to expand aid to 36 hospitals and primary health care centers.
Following the joint report from Human Rights Watch and Johns Hopkins in April 2019, increasing announcements from the United Nations about the scale of the humanitarian crisis, and the softening of Maduro's position on receiving aid, the ICRC tripled its budget for aid to Venezuela. The increased Red Cross aid would focus in four areas: the migration crisis, the health care system collapse, water and sanitation, and prisons and detention centers.
The first Red Cross delivery of supplies for hospitals arrived on 16 April via an air cargo shipment from Panama and contained generators, water, and surgery kits. Relative to the amount of need, the initial supplies were expected to be little "more than a palliative measure", but National Assembly Deputy Miguel Pizarro
Miguel Alejandro Pizarro Rodríguez (born February 17, 1988) is a Venezuelan politician in the National Assembly (Venezuela), National Assembly who represents Petare in Caracas.
Early life
Around the time of his birth, Pizarro's family moved to ...
viewed it as an encouraging sign that the Maduro administration would allow more aid to enter. According to the Associated Press, having long denied that there was a humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, Maduro positioned the delivery "as a necessary measure to confront punishing U.S. economic sanctions"; having "rallied the international community", Guaidó "quickly claimed credit for the effort".
Quoting Tamara Taraciuk—an expert at Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
on Venezuela—who called the situation "a completely man-made crisis", ''The New York Times'' said the aid effort in Venezuela presented challenges regarding how to deliver aid in an "unprecedented political, economic and humanitarian crisis" that was "caused largely by the policies of a government intent on staying in power, rather than war or natural disaster". The humanitarian crisis is impacted by the presidential crisis and international sanctions
International sanctions are political and economic decisions that are part of diplomatic efforts by countries, multilateral or regional organizations against states or organizations either to protect national security interests, or to protect i ...
, along with concerns that the Red Cross effort alone will be insufficient to meet the need, and whether the aid effort will continue to be politicized. According to ''The New York Times'', " armed pro-government paramilitaries" fired weapons to disrupt the first Red Cross delivery, and officials associated with Maduro's party told the Red Cross to leave.
In December 2019, Francesco Rocca, president of the (IFRC), denounced a lack of international assistance to Venezuela, stating that its international appeal for 50 million Swiss francs was less than 10 percent funded, which he attributed to a lack of political will and politicization of the aid process. Rocca warned that some actors wanted to use the desperation of the civilian population as a means to "destabilize the country", and disputed claims that the government was not allowing aid into the country, stating that the Red Cross was able to "deliver everything in a very free" way, but that there was a lack of aid to deliver.
Other NGOs
Member of the National Assembly, Lester Toledo announced in May that the NGO
A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...
''Rescate Venezuela'' and the ''Ayuda y Libertad'' coalition had already given medical aid and survival kits to about 10.000 Venezuelans in more than 20 states. Most of the effort is carried out by volunteering
Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergenc ...
.
Irregularities
On 14 June, ''PanAm Post
The ''PanAm Post'' is a conservative libertarian and anti-socialist news and opinion website launched in 2013 by Luis Henrique Ball Zuloaga. It publishes Spanish and English news, investigations, and opinion from a free market perspective and ...
'' published an article reporting that representatives of Guaidó had misappropriated payments for the housing of Venezuelan military defectors that arrived at Colombia, allegedly using them for personal purchases. Following the publication of the article, Guaidó's presidential office informed that the individuals accused of corruption were dismissed from their positions and requested the cooperation of the Colombian government, multilateral agencies and other organizations to clarify the events an impartial investigation.[ The Venezuelan embassy in Colombia issued a statement informing that Guaidó and the appointed ambassador, Humberto Calderón, agreed to carry out an audit.][ Venezuelan political parties, including ]Popular Will
Popular Will (, abbr. VP) is a political party in Venezuela founded by former Mayor of Chacao, Leopoldo López, who is its national co-ordinator. The party previously held 14 out of 167 seats in the Venezuelan National Assembly, the country ...
, Justice First
The Justice First () is a centre-right political party in Venezuela. Founded in 1992 as a civil association, it became a political party in 2000. Henrique Capriles was the candidate of the party in 2013 Venezuelan presidential election.
Hist ...
, Democratic Action and A New Era
Un Nuevo Tiempo (Spanish for 'A New Era', UNT) is a centre-left politics, centre-left political party in Venezuela. It received 11% of the vote in the 2008 Venezuelan regional elections, 2008 regional elections. The party arose in Zulia State, ...
, supported the start of the investigation of the events. Colombian Foreign Minister, Carlos Holmes Trujillo
Carlos Holmes Trujillo García (23 September 1951 – 26 January 2021) was a Colombian dynasty politician, diplomat, scholar, and attorney who served as minister of defense, foreign affairs, interior, and education. He also served as the mayor ...
, condemned the reported act of corruption and urged the authorities to advance the investigations to determine if any wrongdoings occurred.
The NGO ''Transparencia Internacional'' compiled a first report on the accused representatives. The report concluded that Guaidó's envoys were only involved in the administration of funds contributed by foundations and donors, not humanitarian aid from public funds. The NGO recommended appointing a special comptroller and independent agency to audit Venezuelan finances abroad.
Reactions
Foreign aid
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
reported that critics say the offer of humanitarian aid by the United States was designed as a way to place pressure on Maduro and to increase dissent among the Venezuelan armed forces, and that the US is using a similar tactic that Russia used in Ukraine, where 250 Russian trucks entered to deliver aid in 2014.[ Colombia, and Venezuela's neighboring countries, "are the most interested in seeing aid brought in", according to CNN, to "help reduce the wave of Venezuelan refugees pouring across their borders."][ ]Carlos Holmes Trujillo
Carlos Holmes Trujillo García (23 September 1951 – 26 January 2021) was a Colombian dynasty politician, diplomat, scholar, and attorney who served as minister of defense, foreign affairs, interior, and education. He also served as the mayor ...
, Colombia's foreign minister, said that blocking aid was a crime that "would give even more reason ... to ask the International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute ...
to investigate Maduro".
The United Nations (UN) stated in 2018 that " st numbers of Venezuelans are starving, deprived of essential medicines, and trying to survive in a situation that is spiraling downwards with no end in sight"; it recommended increased humanitarian funding for Venezuelans in 2019, and cautioned not to politicize aid. The UN said that "humanitarian action needs to be independent of political, military or other objectives", and calls for a de-escalation of tension from both sides.
The International Committee of the Red Cross "warned the United States about the risks of delivering humanitarian aid to Venezuela without the approval of security forces loyal to President Nicolas Maduro". It also said its ability to work in the current environment in Venezuela was limited" and that it could "not ... implement things that have a political tone". For the Red Cross, maintaining a neutral stance in political situations is most important;[ the organization holds that, for aid to be effective, both sides of the conflict should come to agreement.][ Having worked with local authorities inside Venezuela for a long time delivering relief,] in February 2019 the organization had talks with the Venezuelan Ministry of Health about increasing its budget. Later in the month it doubled its Venezuela budget to €15.8 million (US$17.9 million).
On 16 April 2021, a report released by the Office of the Inspector General at the U.S. Agency for International Development concluded that the February deployment of aid responded in part to pressure Maduro rather than helping Venezuelans. The report also said that the U.S. aid to Venezuela did not fully comply with humanitarian principles.
Nations
The US pledged $20 million, and Canada pledged $53 million Canadian dollar
The Canadian dollar (currency symbol, symbol: $; ISO 4217, code: CAD; ) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $. There is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviations Can$, CA$ and C$ are frequently used f ...
s in humanitarian aid, saying most of it would go to Venezuela's neighbors and trusted partners. Germany, Sweden, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Puerto Rico, and the European Commission also pledged aid. At the Conference on Humanitarian Assistance in Support of Venezuela hosted by the OAS in Washington, D.C., John Bolton announced that 25 countries pledged US$100 million for humanitarian aid to be delivered to Venezuela via centers in Curaçao, Colombia and Brazil.
In support
* : The Argentine government highlighted the creation of a "help unit" to face the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, this unit will serve as a bridge between donations from the country to the collection centers located on the border with Venezuela.
* : The Canadian government announced that it will provide US$39 million of humanitarian aid in Venezuela during a meeting of the Lima Group
The Lima Group (GL; Spanish and , French: Groupe de Lima) is a multilateral body that was established following the Lima Declaration on 8 August 2017 in the Peruvian capital of Lima, where representatives of 12 countries met in order to establ ...
in early February 2019.
* : Undersecretary of Interior of the Chilean government, Rodrigo Ubilla, reported on the preparation of 17 tons of food and medicine to Venezuela; said shipment would be sent directly to Venezuela once it is allowed to enter the country.
* : The German government destined €5 million for humanitarian aid in Venezuela, to deliver it "as soon as the political circumstances permit".
* : The Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs
The minister of foreign affairs is the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Italy), Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Italy. The office was one of the positions which Italy inherited from the Kingdom of Sardinia where it was the most ancient mi ...
, Enzo Moavero Milanesi
Enzo Moavero Milanesi (born 17 August 1954) is an Italian independent politician and law professor who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the first Cabinet of Giuseppe Conte from 1 June 2018 to 5 September 2019. He was also the Chairman-i ...
, agreed to send two million euros for humanitarian aid in Venezuela.
*: Foreign Minister of Japan
The is a member of the cabinet of Japan and is the leader and chief executive officer, chief executive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan), Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The minister is responsible for implementing Japan's foreign policy a ...
Tarō Kōno condemned the Maduro government for violently repressing the attempted entrance of aid and stated that Japan supports the shipment of international aid to Venezuelans in need.
* : The government of South Korea pledged US$3 million in aid to support the refugee and humanitarian crisis; US$1 million is earmarked for Venezuela for food and medicine, with the remaining $US2 million to go to Colombia, Ecuador and Peru for refugee support.
* : The government of Spain, through the Office of Humanitarian Action of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), indicated that it would allocate €2 million in humanitarian aid for Venezuela by the year 2019.
* : The Swedish government destined 53 million Swedish krona
The krona (; plural: ''kronor''; sign: kr; code: SEK) is the currency of Sweden. Both the ISO code "SEK" and currency sign "kr" are in common use for the krona; the former precedes or follows the value, the latter usually follows it but, espec ...
(about US$7 million) for the humanitarian aid requested by Guaidó.
* : The government of Taiwan destined 500 thousand dollars for the humanitarian aid to Venezuela and the chancellor Joseph Wu
Wu Jaushieh (; born October 31, 1954), also known by his English name Joseph Wu, is a Taiwanese political scientist and diplomat currently serving as secretary-general of the National Security Council since 2024. He was formerly the foreign mi ...
declared that "Venezuela needs democracy and an immediate economic stability".
* : The government of the United Kingdom indicated that it will initially allocate £6.5 million in emergency assistance packages that will supply children's nutrients, vaccines and clean water for the most vulnerable communities affected by the crisis in Venezuela.
* : The United States government, through its Agency for International Development
Agency may refer to:
Organizations
* Institution, governmental or others
** Advertising agency or marketing agency, a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients
** Employment agency, a business that s ...
(USAID) sent several shipments of food and medicine to Cúcuta, hoping it can enter Venezuela as soon as possible. In turn, Puerto Rico
; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
sent 2.5 tons of food and medicines to the collection center located in Cúcuta.
Against
* : President Evo Morales
Juan Evo Morales Ayma (; born 26 October 1959) is a Bolivian politician, trade union organizer, and former cocalero activist who served as the 65th president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019. Widely regarded as the country's first president to come ...
described the humanitarian aid shipments as a "Trojan horse" and a pretext for military intervention.
* : Spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry said that humanitarian aid should not be forced into Venezuela, which can cause violence and clashes. Following the clashes over humanitarian aid shipments, China said it hoped that the international community can provide "constructive" help to Venezuela under the precondition of respecting the country's sovereignty. In late March 2019, a Chinese plane delivered what "Venezuelan officials said was a 65-ton cargo of medical supplies".[
* : The Cuban government called humanitarian aid "an attack on the sovereignty of the region".
* : The Russian Foreign Ministry indicated that the humanitarian aid was only a "cover" for a US military intervention. On 1 March, Russian Foreign Minister ]Sergey Lavrov
Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov (, ; born 21 March 1950) is a Russian diplomat who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs (Russia), Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2004. He is the longest-serving Russian foreign minister since Andrei Gromyko d ...
told Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez
Delcy Eloína Rodríguez Gómez (born 18 May 1969) is a Venezuelan lawyer, diplomat, and politician who has served as the vice president of Venezuela since 2018. Rodríguez has held several positions during the presidencies of Hugo Chávez and ...
that Russia will continue assist the Venezuelan authorities in resolving social and economic problems, including through the provision of "legitimate" humanitarian aid. It was also considering to send "mass supplies" of wheat to Venezuela, claiming those shipments will help normalize the humanitarian situation in the country.
Organizations
* The (OHCHR) said that "many of Venezuelans are starving, deprived of essential medicines and trying to survive in a situation in free fall without an end in sight". Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary General
The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...
António Guterres
António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres (born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat who is serving as the ninth and current secretary-general of the United Nations since 2017. A member of the Socialist Party (Portugal), ...
, said it is "important that humanitarian aid be depoliticized and that the needs of the people guide in terms of when and how humanitarian aid is used."
* The , Federica Mogherini
Federica Mogherini (; born 16 June 1973) is an Italian politician who served as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019. A member of the Democratic ...
, indicated that the European Union has already mobilized 60 million euros for Venezuela and will allocate an additional 5 million euros; Mogherini also affirmed that "humanitarian aid to Venezuela should not be politicized".
* The OAS approved a resolution on 27 March 2019 to "urge the public institutions of Venezuela, especially the military and police forces, to refrain from blocking the entry of humanitarian aid to Venezuela." Voting in favor were 19 countries; against 5 (Antigua and Barbuda, Nicaragua, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Uruguay and Venezuela); and 8 countries abstained (Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, El Salvador, Mexico, St. Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago). Dominica and Grenada were absent.
* The Venezuelan Red Cross affirmed that it will participate in the distribution of the aid while remaining outside the presidential crisis. Coversely, the Colombian Red Cross
The Colombian Red Cross is a Colombian-based nonprofit private entity member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Society. It has been a member since 1922. The Colombian Red Cross embraces the principles of the International Red Cross. ...
declared that it will not participate in the operation without prior agreement with the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...
.
Defections
Guaidó encouraged military personnel and security officials to withdraw support from Maduro. During the attempt to bring humanitarian aid into Venezuela, hundreds of lower level troops fled across the border to seek refuge in Colombia.[ As of 5 April 2019, since the border clashes on 23 February began, 1,285 Venezuelan military personnel and police have broken ranks.][
]
See also
*
* COVID-19 pandemic in Venezuela
The COVID-19 pandemic in Venezuela was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first two cases in Venezuela were confirmed on 13 March 2020; the ...
* Humanitarian intervention
Humanitarian intervention is the Use of force in international law, use or threat of military force by a state (or states) across borders with the intent of ending severe and widespread human rights violations in a state which has not given permi ...
* Pemon conflict
The Pemon conflict is an ongoing conflict which is a part of the wider Crisis in Venezuela. The conflict is centered around mining disputes between the Maduro government, the Pemon nation (Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous people th ...
* Venezuela–Colombia migrant crisis
Notes
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shipping of humanitarian aid to Venezuela, 2019
2019 in Brazil
2019 in Colombia
2019 in the Netherlands
2019 in the United States
Venezuelan presidential crisis
Brazil–Venezuela relations
Colombia–Venezuela relations
Crisis in Venezuela
February 2019 in Venezuela
Health in Venezuela
Humanitarian aid
Netherlands–Venezuela relations
Political repression in Venezuela
First Trump administration controversies
United States–Venezuela relations
International reactions to the crisis in Venezuela
Violations of medical neutrality