Credit: Wikipedia /  Bolivarian Government of Venezuela  

By Gary Raynaldo   DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

Declaring it is concerned over the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, the United States announced it is giving an additional $348 million in aid to the economically struggling Latin American nation. 

“The United States is demonstrating our continued commitment to the Venezuelan people and our response to the ongoing humanitarian crisis caused by the corrupt and illegitimate Maduro regime with the announcement of an additional nearly $348 million in humanitarian assistance.”

-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

Secretary of State Pompeo made the  announcement over the weekend  as he wrapped up a tour of four South American countries. Pompeo said  the U.S. aid includes nearly $143 million from the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, and more than $205 million from the U.S. Agency for International Development.  The new funding now brings the total amount of U.S. humanitarian and development assistance toward the Venezuela crisis to more than $1.2 billion since 2017, excluding COVID-19 supplementary funding, Pompeo said.

“Many Venezuelans continue to struggle to meet their basic needs and U.S. assistance supports the well-being of forcibly displaced Venezuelans. U.S. humanitarian assistance provides access to emergency food, safe drinking water, direct cash assistance, sanitation, and hygiene support, health care, medical supplies, psychosocial support, livelihoods, and protection for vulnerable groups including women, youth, and indigenous people especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.”  – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.