Venezuela has reportedly ordered the closure of its air and sea border with Curacao, a military commander said Tuesday, as the island planned to host a US aid shipment for Venezuela.
“Our government categorically and energetically rejects this slander,” Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said at a Havana press conference, adding all of the some 20,000 Cubans in Venezuela were civilians, most health professionals."There is a big political and communications campaign underway which are usually the prelude to larger actions by this government," Rodriguez said.
Maduro said, "Who is the commander of the armed forces, Donald Trump from Miami?" and added, "They think they're the owners of the country."Trump urged Venezuela's military to accept Guaido's amnesty offer, or stand to "lose everything." Venezuela's Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez on Monday said the concert is scheduled to for February 22 and February 23.The concerts will be held at the Simon Bolivar international bridge, on the border of Venezuela with Colombia.Branson has said he hopes the concert he's throwing to rally humanitarian aid for Venezuela will help draw global attention and save lives by raising funds for "much-needed medical help" for the crisis-torn country.
Venezuela's Guaido set a goal of enlisting a million volunteers within a week to confront a government blockade that has kept tons of humanitarian aid, most of it from the United States, from flowing into the country. A US military transport plane carrying humanitarian aid meant for Venezuelans landed in the Colombian border city of Cucuta on Saturday, where food and medicine is being stored amidst uncertainty over how and where aid will be distributed.
Tons of US aid is piling up in Colombia close to the border with Venezuela as opposition leader Guaido has vowed to defy Maduro's efforts to block the supplies from entering the country. Meanwhile, US National Security Advisor Bolton says many in Maduro's inner circle have now begun to waiver.The US Treasury announced on Friday that it was imposing sanctions on five intelligence and security officials close to Maduro.
According to David Smolanksy, coordinator of an OAS working group on migration and refugees from Venezuela, the money will go directly to aid collection centres set up on the borders with Colombia and Brazil and on the Caribbean island of Curazao.Maduro is inviting a US special envoy to come to Venezuela after revealing in aninterview that his foreign minister recently held secret meetings with the US official in New York.
Maduro said all Venezuela needs to rebound is for Trump to remove his "infected hand" from the country that sits atop the world's largest petroleum reservesForeign Minister Jorge Arreaza announced the formation of a group that believes the UN Charter's commitment to non-interference in another country's affairs is being violated, particularly in the South American nation.
Trump and Duque met Wednesday in the Oval Office and said many countries want to help crisis-ridden Venezuela. Trump also said Maduro's refusal to accept humanitarian aid is a "terrible mistake" and hinted at future action by the US and its allies against Venezuela's socialist leader. Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Stef Blok said on Twitter Wednesday that the collection point will be launched in "close cooperation with Venezuelan interim-president Guaido and the United States."'Military intervention not an option'
The Russian draft criticises "attempts to intervene" in Venezuelan domestic affairs, expresses "concern over the threats to use force" against the country, and calls for a peaceful resolution of the stalemate. Guaido called the Youth Day demonstrations to honour people killed in anti-government rallies and press for the food and medicine to be brought into the economically-ravaged South American country.
Quevedu, who on Monday said Caracas was open to barter trade with New Delhi, declined to disclose details on how he planned to do business with India. Russia and the United States have backed opposing sides in the political turmoil in Venezuela. Washington has recognised Guaido as interim president, while Moscow continues to back Maduro, a staunch ally.Venezuela's opposition supporters will take to the streets nationwide on Tuesday to keep up the heat on embattled Maduro and to call on him to let humanitarian aid into the country where food and medicine shortages are rife.
"Today we delivered the first donation, or the first cargo of humanitarian aid, albeit on a small scale, because you know they have blocked the border for the time being," he said in televised remarks in Caracas.Venezuelan opposition envoy Maria Teresa Belandria was received as her country's official ambassador in Brazil on Monday, and said Brazil's government will provide all possible support to get humanitarian aid to the border.
Alexander Shchetinin, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Latin America department, said that Moscow hasn't received any such request from Caracas, according to Russian news reports. While no date has yet been set for a vote on the American draft, and negotiations are ongoing, Russia is likely to use its veto power to block it as part of its support of Maduro's government, diplomats said.
Several vehicles loaded with food and medicines rumbled into a collection centre on the Colombian side of the Tienditas border bridge, which remains blocked by Venezuelan troops. The International Contact Group meeting in Montevideo said it was committed to finding a "peaceful, democratic" way out of the power struggle between Maduro and Guaido "without the use of force."
"We were counting on Russia having possibility to get involved in the work that will take place in Montevideo today, at least as an observer state," deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov told theThe United Nations warned against using aid as a pawn in Venezuela after the United States sent food and medicine to the country's border and accused Maduro of blocking its delivery with trucks and shipping containers.