(5 Feb 2019) Thousands of Venezuelans continue to cross the border with Colombia every day searching for food and medicine that they are otherwise unable to obtain in their home country.
Speaking from the border town of Cucuta, a number of Venezuelans appealed to President Nicolas Maduro to accept the humanitarian aid the opposition leader, Juan Gauido, has vowed to bring into the troubled nation.
Many of those who crossed into Colombia on Tuesday looking for both food and medicine said they were tired of making long treks across the border to fulfill their basic needs.
They say Venezuelans need the aid because hospitals are in short supply and many families are going hungry.
Crisbelis Perez, a Venezuelan mother of seven, travelled to Colombia to have her baby vaccinated and to treat her two daughters who she said were sick.
"In Venezuela there is nothing. One can not find medicine. Nothing, nothing, nothing," she said before making her way back to Venezuela, children in tow.
Venezuela's opposition is moving ahead with a risky strategy to bring in humanitarian aid from Colombia, hoping to break the all-important military's loyalty to Nicolas Maduro.
While US National Security Adviser John Bolton said last week that boxes of USAID branded baby formula and supplies for malnourished children are being readied to deploy to Venezuela, it's not clear how they can safely enter.
The International Committee of the Red Cross is among the groups who have warned about the dangers of deploying aid without the consent of the Maduro government, which has repeatedly rejected the offers.
Maduro denies the existence of a humanitarian crisis, calling it a fabrication by Venezuela's enemies to sow instability and justify a military intervention.
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