Deadly clashes broke out in Venezuelan border towns on Saturday, as President Nicolás Maduro blocked humanitarian aid from crossing from Colombia and Brazil. At least two people were killed in gunfire on Saturday, rights groups said, including a 14-year-old boy.
Venezuelan troops fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters attempting to collect and transport the aid. The opposition wants the aid to go to people hit by the economic crisis. Mr Maduro claims it is a security threat. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned the attacks on civilians, which he blamed on “Maduro’s thugs”. Mr Pompeo also described the burning of some of the aid as “sickening”.
Despite dozens of countries backing the opposition leader, Mr Maduro maintains the support of key economic allies including Cuba, Russia and China. The US is leading the international effort to pressure him, and has implemented a raft of financial sanctions against his government. Humanitarian aid is the latest flashpoint in the ongoing standoff between Mr Maduro and Mr Guaidó.
Mr Guaidó, who is the leader of the country’s opposition-dominated National Assembly, last month declared himself the country’s interim leader. He has called Mr Maduro’s rule constitutionally illegitimate because of alleged irregularities with the 2018 general election. Venezuela has been in the grip of a political and economic crisis for several years.
An out-of-control inflation rate has seen prices soar, leaving many Venezuelans struggling to afford basic items such as food, toiletries and medicine. Mr Guaidó insists that citizens badly need help, while Mr Maduro views aid as a ploy by the US to invade the country. At least 2.7 million people have fled the country since 2015.
It’s unprecedented for a ruling President to forego aid to his own citizens–the nearest examples in modern history have probably been the Duvalier family of Haiti and the regime of Robert Mugabe. How can a convoy of trucks with aid constitute an invasion ? If Mr Maduro thought so, he could easily have checked the trucks going into Venezuela.
It’s unprecedented for a ruling President to forego aid to his own citizens–the nearest examples in modern history have probably been the Duvalier family of Haiti and the regime of Robert Mugabe. How can a convoy of trucks with aid constitute an invasion ? If Mr Maduro thought so, he could easily have checked the trucks going into Venezuela.
Instead he resorted to intimidation and violence—the old tools of dictators the world over. And like all such, he will realise that the help of the army and Russia and China will only help him so much. He can’t show he is fighting ISIS, which is the main reason why another tyrant Bashar al-Assad has been left alone. He can cling to power through sheer terror and muscle force, but for how long? At the moment Venezuela is being pushed off a cliff.
