The United States Provides Second Tranche of Humanitarian Assistance in Cúcuta, Colombia, to Help Venezuelans in Need

Press Release Shim

Speeches Shim

Fact Sheet

For Immediate Release

Saturday, February 16, 2019
Office of Press Relations
Telephone: +1.202.712.4320 | Email: press@usaid.gov
  • The United States is airlifting and pre-positioning additional humanitarian commodities to provide relief to tens of thousands of Venezuelans who are suffering from severe shortages of food and medicine caused by the mismanagement of the illegitimate Maduro regime.
  • The relief supplies include hygiene kits and nutrition products from the warehouse maintained by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Miami, Florida. U.S. military C-17 cargo planes departing from Homestead Air Reserve Base are transporting the supplies to Cúcuta, Colombia as part of the Trump Administration's whole-of-government response to the Venezuela regional crisis.
  • In addition to humanitarian cargo, the U.S. military will transport forklifts and personnel to help offload the cargo in Cúcuta. Additional U.S. military flights will take place over the coming days to deliver more humanitarian assistance aimed at helping the most vulnerable populations.
  • The U.S. military has a long history of supporting USAID-led humanitarian assistance missions and working with international relief, faith-based, and civil-society organizations, and host country governments to aid people affected by life-threatening crises and disasters.
  • The mission comes only one week after the U.S. government pre-positioned emergency supplies in Cúcuta at the request of Interim Venezuelan President Juan Guaidó who, along with Venezuela's National Assembly, stressed the importance of immediate international humanitarian assistance to help meet the urgent needs of the people of Venezuela. In response to this appeal, the United States-working with the Government of Colombia and representatives of the Guaidó administration-also supported the establishment of President Guaidó's first international humanitarian assistance center.
  • This second tranche of assistance will help address the greatest needs identified by Interim President Guaidó's team and will improve the lives of tens of thousands of Venezuelans. Specific items include the following:
    • Highly nutritious, high-energy, nutritional products -known as ready-to-use supplementary foods (RUSF)-that will treat an estimated 3,500 children who are suffering from malnutrition for approximately two months, giving them the vital nutrients they need to grow and thrive; and
    • Hygiene kits which contain soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and other personal hygiene supplies to help nearly 25,000 people stay healthy and prevent disease. 
  • The first tranche of assistance, pre-positioned in Cúcuta on February 8, 2019, included the following:
    • Locally purchased food kits, which contain items such as vegetable oil, flour, lentils, and rice and hygiene kits to help meet families' basic needs;
    • Locally purchased medical supplies;
    • Nutrient-rich, high-energy, ready-to-use supplementary foods (RUSF) from a factory in Rhode Island; 
    • High-energy biscuits packed with vitamins and minerals that can serve as a temporary meal replacement or prevent acute malnutrition in an emergency situation. 
  • In addition, Emergency medical kits that contain life-saving medical supplies and pharmaceuticals for use in hospitals and community health centers will arrive early next week.
  • Finally, USAID is prepositioning relief supplies at its warehouses in Miami and Houston, ready for immediate deployment to the region. These supplies include food, hygiene kits, blankets, water containers, kitchen sets, and nutritional products.
  • Over the past two years, the United States has been rapidly increasing assistance efforts to support our hemispheric partners and the people of Venezuela caused by the illegitimate Maduro regime. Since Fiscal Year 2017, the United States has provided more than $140 million -including nearly $97 million in humanitarian assistance and approximately $43 million in development and economic assistance-to support the generous efforts of countries in the region that are hosting the more than three million people who have fled the chaos in Venezuela. In addition, on January 24, 2019, Secretary of State Pompeo announced that the United States is ready to provide more than $20 million in additional funding to support humanitarian assistance activities in Venezuela.

READ MORE

#EstamosUnidosVE: Venezuela Regional Crisis Response
Venezuela Regional Crisis Response