Venezuela blockades bridge to stop aid
Embattled president Nicolas Maduro has rejected foreign aid amid economic crisis
Venezuelan troops have blockaded a bridge that connects the country to Colombia, in an apparent bid by President Nicolas Maduro to stop international humanitarian aid being delivered.
Two shipping containers and an oil tanker have been positioned on the Tienditas international bridge, near the Colombian city of Cucuta, which was one of three designated staging points for the delivery of aid.
The convoy, donated by the United States, left Bogota on Wednesday morning, and was due to cross the bridge later today.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The aid was organised by opposition leader and self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido, who called on the international community for help as Venezuela continues to sink into further economic collapse.
However, Maduro has “repeatedly denied his economically devastated country is facing a humanitarian crisis, apparently fearing such an acceptance could be used to justify foreign military intervention”, The Guardian says.
In a speech to his troops this week, Maduro insisted that Venezuela did not need any international help, saying: “We are not beggars.”
Reuters reports that the United Nations has issued a warning against “using aid as a pawn in Venezuela”. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York: “Humanitarian action needs to be independent of political, military or other objectives.”
The blockade comes just days after Maduro appeared to threaten Guaido with imprisonment.
John Bolton, Donald Trump’s national security adviser, has previously said that violence or intimidation of Guaido or other opposition leaders “would represent a grave assault on the rule of law and will be met with a significant response”.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Was the Azerbaijan Airlines plane shot down?
Today's Big Question Multiple sources claim Russian anti-aircraft missile damaged passenger jet, leading to Christmas Day crash that killed at least 38
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Ukraine hints at end to 'hot war' with Russia in 2025
Talking Points Could the new year see an end to the worst European violence of the 21st Century?
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
What does the FDIC do?
In the Spotlight Deposit insurance builds confidence in the banking system
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
People of the year 2024
In the Spotlight Remember the people who hit the headlines this year?
By The Week UK Published
-
Why Assad fell so fast
The Explainer The newly liberated Syria is in an incredibly precarious position, but it's too soon to succumb to defeatist gloom
By The Week UK Published
-
Romania's election rerun
The Explainer Shock result of presidential election has been annulled following allegations of Russian interference
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Russia's shadow war in Europe
Talking Point Steering clear of open conflict, Moscow is slowly ratcheting up the pressure on Nato rivals to see what it can get away with.
By The Week UK Published
-
Cutting cables: the war being waged under the sea
In the Spotlight Two undersea cables were cut in the Baltic sea, sparking concern for the global network
By The Week UK Published
-
The nuclear threat: is Vladimir Putin bluffing?
Talking Point Kremlin's newest ballistic missile has some worried for Nato nations
By The Week UK Published
-
Russia vows retaliation for Ukrainian missile strikes
Speed Read Ukraine's forces have been using U.S.-supplied, long-range ATCMS missiles to hit Russia
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Has the Taliban banned women from speaking?
Today's Big Question 'Rambling' message about 'bizarre' restriction joins series of recent decrees that amount to silencing of Afghanistan's women
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published