Aid Showdown in Venezuela Will Maduro use violence against people bringing food and medicine?
https://www.wsj.com/articles/aid-showdown-in-venezuela-11550795476
The fight for democracy in Venezuela has retreated from the front pages, but an important moment arrives Saturday when thousands of Venezuelan exiles will try to deliver food and medical supplies to their suffering compatriots. Dictator Nicolás Maduro may try to block the aid, and his forces may resort to violence.
The help from abroad is welcomed by Juan Guaidó, who has been recognized by more than 50 countries as Venezuela’s legitimate government since the elected parliament recognized him as Interim President under the constitution last month. The U.S. has promised $20 million in assistance and Canada has pledged $40 million, though some of that is for refugees in neighboring countries.
Mr. Maduro won’t let the aid arrive via normal port or airport destinations. So the humanitarian convoys plan to cross into Venezuela at two locations across the Colombian and Brazilian borders, as well as via the island government of Curaçao. The volunteers delivering the supplies are taking great personal risks because no one knows how the Maduro forces will respond if the convoys insist on entering and setting up distribution centers. A surrounding swell of public support could protect them, but not if the military or regime militia start shooting.
Top military brass haven’t broken with Mr. Maduro, despite pleas and offers of amnesty from Mr. Guaidó. But there’s no doubt that soldiers and mid-level officers are tired of seeing the Venezuelan people suffer. Many have deserted and fled to neighboring countries.
Mr. Maduro is trying to frame the aid brigades as pawns of a U.S. invasion. That sounds familiar because it is the narrative that Mr. Maduro’s Cuban patrons have used for 60 years to justify their repression. Cuban intelligence is now also calling the shots in Caracas and spreading the same propaganda.
But those won’t be foreign troops arriving Saturday. They’ll be Venezuelans carrying food and medicine for a country plunged into malnutrition and disease by Cuban-Maduro socialism. The aid showdown puts in stark relief the choice in Venezuela between a dictator who wants to block aid for the people, and the Guaidó government that wants to deliver it.
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