Cucuta, Colombia - On Sunday, Secretary Pompeo traveled to Cucuta, Colombia. During this visit, he met with organizations supporting Venezuelans fleeing the oppressive Maduro regime, and assessed the challenges of delivering humanitarian aid into Venezuela itself, given the regime’s closure of the Venezuela-Colombia border. The United States remains committed to supporting the people of Venezuela as they demand the restoration of their democracy.
- The United States has responded to Interim President Juan Guaido’s request for immediate international humanitarian assistance. From February to March 2019, the United States pre-positioned approximately 208 metric tons of critical relief supplies in Cucuta to help the people of Venezuela.
- U.S. military C-130 and C-17 cargo planes transported the relief supplies from Homestead Air Reserve Base in Florida to Cucuta, Colombia as part of the Trump Administration’s whole-of-government response to the Venezuelan crisis.
- To date, with our partners in the Western Hemisphere, the United States has pre-positioned nearly 546 metric tons of assistance in Colombia, Brazil and Curacao to help tens of thousands of Venezuelans. The aid includes food, medical supplies, hygiene kits, nutrition products, and water purification and storage units.
- This U.S.-provided aid is part of the $20 million of initial humanitarian assistance to the people inside of Venezuela as announced by Secretary Pompeo on January 24, 2019.
- Since Fiscal Year 2017, the United States also has provided more than $256 million – including more than $213 million in humanitarian assistance and approximately $43 million in development and economic assistance – to complement the efforts of host countries in the region to meet the humanitarian needs of Venezuelan refugees.
- Interim President Juan Guaido and Venezuela’s National Assembly are prioritizing the need for large-scale, impartial humanitarian assistance for vulnerable Venezuelans. The United States will continue to respond to this request and support the ongoing peaceful transition to democracy in Venezuela.
