US to send additional $170 million in humanitarian aid to Venezuelan citizens

UNITED STATES announced this Friday a new package of more than $170 million in humanitarian aid and for development in order to lighten Venezuelan migration crisis which affects much of the American continent.

United States Secretary of State, Anthony Blinkclarified in a statement that the resources will be distributed through social organizations to ensure that they do not reach the hands of the regime of the Venezuelan dictator, Nicola Maduro.

The United States is the country that has allocated the most money in response to the Venezuelan crisis, with over $2.8 billion since 2017assured the US Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The new program provides more than $140 million in humanitarian assistance and an additional $31 million in development assistance “to meet the needs of vulnerable Venezuelans inside Venezuela, as well as Venezuelan migrants and refugees.”

The aid will also go to 17 countries in the region that “have generously welcomed” Venezuelans who have left their country.

Blinken affirmed that this decision is in line with the commitment made by Washington in the Summit of the Americas last year in Angels to “support countries that host large populations of migrants and refugees”.

The government of Joe Biden He has pressured countries in the region to welcome migrants and thus prevent them from reaching the southern border of the United States, which has seen a record number of arrivals in recent years.

The United States has been applying a plan since last January whereby it returns to Mexico to all Venezuelan, Cuban, Nicaraguan and Haitian migrants who cross the border irregularly.

Washington He promised to lift some sanctions against Venezuela if progress is made in negotiations between the Maduro regime and the Venezuelan opposition for the holding of elections with democratic guarantees.

(With information from EFE)

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