The United States provides second tranche of humanitarian assistance in Cucuta, Colombia, to help Venezuelans in need

The United States is airlifting and pre-positioning additional humanitarian commodities to provide relief to tens of thousands of Venezuelans who are suffering from severe shortages of food and medicine caused by the mismanagement of the illegitimate Maduro regime.

The relief supplies include hygiene kits and nutrition products from the warehouse maintained by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Miami, Florida. U.S. military C-17 cargo planes departing from Homestead Air Reserve Base are transporting the supplies to Cúcuta, Colombia as part of the Trump Administration’s whole-of-government response to the Venezuela regional crisis.

This second tranche of assistance will help address the greatest needs identified by Interim President Guaidó’s team and will improve the lives of tens of thousands of Venezuelans. Specific items include the following:

• Highly nutritious, high-energy, nutritional products -known as ready-to-use supplementary foods (RUSF)-that will treat an estimated 3,500 children who are suffering from malnutrition for approximately two months, giving them the vital nutrients they need to grow and thrive; and
• Hygiene kits which contain soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and other personal hygiene supplies to help nearly 25,000 people stay healthy and prevent disease.

In addition, Emergency medical kits that contain life-saving medical supplies and pharmaceuticals for use in hospitals and community health centers will arrive early next week.

Finally, USAID is prepositioning relief supplies at its warehouses in Miami and Houston, ready for immediate deployment to the region. These supplies include food, hygiene kits, blankets, water containers, kitchen sets, and nutritional products.

Since Fiscal Year 2017, the United States has provided more than $140 million -including nearly $97 million in humanitarian assistance and approximately $43 million in development and economic assistance to support the generous efforts of countries in the region that are hosting the more than three million people who have fled the chaos in Venezuela. In addition, on January 24, 2019, Secretary of State Pompeo announced that the United States is ready to provide more than $20 million in additional funding to support humanitarian assistance activities in Venezuela.

Original source: USAID
Published on 16 February 2019