Guaido Says Aid Coming Into Venezuela Despite Authorities' Alleged Attempts To Stop Effort

The head of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Juan Guaido, who has been challenging the presidency of the country's elected leader Nicolas Maduro, said Thursday that humanitarian aid was being delivered into the country, but accused the incumbent authorities of allegedly trying to hinder this process

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th February, 2019) The head of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Juan Guaido, who has been challenging the presidency of the country's elected leader Nicolas Maduro, said Thursday that humanitarian aid was being delivered into the country, but accused the incumbent authorities of allegedly trying to hinder this process.

"So far, we have been working for days to successfully deliver humanitarian aid; [the Venezuelan authorities] insist on postponing the delivery of medicines and food to those in urgent need. We will ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid because it is about saving lives," Guaido said on Twitter.

He also posted a video showing photos of a road being blocked by a tanker truck and containers.

Late on Tuesday, media reported that the Venezuelan military had blocked off access to a bridge between the Colombian city of Cucuta and the Venezuelan city of Urena in anticipation of possible deliveries of foreign humanitarian aid. The Colombian Migration Service then published photographs showing an orange tank truck and a cargo container barricading the bridge.

Earlier in the week, Guaido's associates announced that an international conference for humanitarian aid donors� would be held in Washington on February 14. Guaido himself announced the creation of three humanitarian aid collection hubs in the Colombian border city of Cucuta, Brazil and the Caribbean.

In an interview with the RT broadcaster released earlier in the week, Maduro said that he considered the US pledges to provide Venezuela with humanitarian aid a "political show" and reiterated that he would not accept any external interference.

Guaido proclaimed himself Venezuela's interim president on January 23. Maduro has in the meantime called him a US puppet and accused Washington of organizing a coup in the Latin American country. The United States, Canada and a number of other countries, including in the European Union, have recognized Guaido's leadership, while Russia, China, Mexico and Turkey have stressed that Maduro is the legitimate president and called for dialogue.