2019 shipping of humanitarian aid to Venezuela
During the presidential crisis between the Venezuelan governments of Nicolás Maduro and Juan Guaidó, a coalition of Colombia, Brazil, the United States and the Netherlands attempted to bring essential goods as a response to shortages in Venezuela. The three main bases used for the operation are: the Colombian city of Cúcuta, the Brazilian state of Roraima, (specifically Boa Vista and Pacaraima), and the island of Curaçao, of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
| 2019 shipping of humanitarian aid to Venezuela | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the crisis in Venezuela and Venezuelan presidential crisis | |||
Top to bottom, left to right: Aid for Venezuela sent by the United States to Colombia. Packages to be sent to Venezuela prepared in Canada. United States Vice President Mike Pence visiting Colombia with boxes. | |||
| Date | 11 February 2019 Continuous donations since February 2019 | ||
| Location | Venezuela | ||
| Parties | |||
| |||
| Crisis in Venezuela |
|---|
| Venezuela portal |
Shortages in Venezuela have occurred since the presidency of Hugo Chávez, 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.
Guaidó and Miguel Pizarro 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.