Venezuela is facing the biggest economic crisis in modern history with hyperinflation, leading to starvation, deaths and mass migration.
The U.S. announced Saturday that USAID will be sending hundreds of tons of food, medicine and supplies to the administration of President Juan Guaido. Nicolas Maduro, who has long refused to allow foreign aid to enter the country, has yet to relinquish his hold on power and has even threatened the possibility of a civil war.
It could be days or weeks before USAID’s shipments are distributed to malnourished Venezuelans, but the Christian humanitarian aid group World Help is already providing assistance in the country through its partners, who know how to get food and supplies to families under the radar of Maduro’s military backers and special police force that has been raiding citizens’ homes in recent weeks.
On Saturday Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., urged the Venezuelan military to let the aid in, when it arrives. “Military and police leaders in Venezuela must now decide to either help food and medicine reach people, or help Maduro instead,” Rubio wrote on Twitter. President Trump reiterated in an interview with CBS on Sunday that sending U.S. troops to Venezuela could be “an option.”
Under socialist rule, the military has taken over much of the economy, including food distribution.
“The political unrest is creating a humanitarian crisis. One of our partners on the ground said it’s the greatest humanitarian crisis in the world right now,” said Vernon Brewer, founder of World Help, in an interview with The Christian Post about the organization’s work and ways Americans can help. “The electricity is cut off on a daily basis. There’s food and medicine shortages; the plunging price of oil. And then you add to that the political upheaval has left the nation in turmoil.”
Many Venezuelans and political leaders around the world believed that Maduro’s re-election in May was fraudulent. On Jan. 23 Guaido, who's head of the country’s opposition party which controls the National Assembly, was sworn in as the legitimate interim leader of Venezuela.
The U.S., E.U., and most countries in the Americas have recognized Guaido as Venezuela’s legitimate leader. Bolivia, Russia and Cuba still support Maduro’s socialist regime, and China issued a statement last month opposing any foreign intervention.
In 2017, Maduro established a new Constituent Assembly that had the power to rewrite the Constitution and either bypass or dissolve the National Assembly. In response, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Maduro and the E.U. and most Latin American countries said they would not recognize his new assembly.
Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans protested against Maduro last Wednesday and again on Saturday, demanding his removal from power. It has been estimated that Maduro has retained about a quarter of the nation's support, including members of the armed forces, but it’s waning.
“Maduro became president several year ago after Hugo Chavez. He was mentored by Hugo Chavez, so he’s been a dictator,” Brewer told CP. “Last year, when he was re-elected, the people of Venezuela felt like it was an illegitimate election. There was fraud. And the Venezuelan Constitution states that anytime there’s not a fair election that the head of the National Assembly gets to take over as the president of the country; and that’s what Juan Guiado has done.
“The United Sates, along with the France, Spain, Germany and South American countries have supported Guiado," he continued. "Not surprisingly, China, Russia, North Korea, Cuba and Turkey have all sided with the dictator, Maduro.
“All of the demonstrations that are taking place, in one city last week there was a demonstration of 1 million people. There were military tanks on every corner, and all the radio and TV was taken over by the government. Even the use of Juan Guiado’s name was prohibited. And the government blocked all telephone service and stopped all the communication to try to keep an iron fist over the people,” Brewer said.
Venezuela’s GDP has shrunk by 47 percent, “a far steeper collapse than that experienced by Greece in the euro crisis, or Zimbabwe during its hyperinflation a decade ago,” The U.K. Times reports.
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