The United States Pre-Positions First Phase of Humanitarian Assistance to Provide Aid to Venezuelans - Cucuta, Colombia

Press Release Shim

Speeches Shim

Fact Sheet

For Immediate Release

Friday, February 8, 2019
Office of Press Relations
Telephone: +1.202.712.4320 | Email: press@usaid.gov
  • At the request of Interim President Juan Guaidó, the United States is immediately pre-positioning emergency supplies in Colombia to provide relief to Venezuelans coping with severe food and medicine shortages.
  • As Secretary Pompeo announced on January 24, 2019, at the request of Interim President Juan Guaidó, the United States is preparing to provide more than $20 million in humanitarian assistance to the people of Venezuela as they struggle to cope with severe shortages of food and medicine and the other dire impacts of their country's man-made political, economic, and humanitarian crisis:
    • This immediate assistance would help address the greatest needs identified by Interim President Guaidó's team: Emergency food and health supplies aimed at reaching the most-vulnerable populations in Venezuela.
    • The first phase of assistance, pre-positioned in Cúcuta here today, will improve the lives of thousands of Venezuelans, and includes:
      • Locally purchased food kits, which contain items such as vegetable oil, flour, lentils, and rice, that could help meet the basic needs of over 5,000 Venezuelans for 10 days;
      • Locally purchased hygiene kits that contain soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste, and other personal hygiene supplies, enough for over 7,500 Venezuelans for 10 days;
      • High-protein, high-energy nutritional supplements from a factory in Rhode Island-known as ready-to-use supplementary foods (RUSF)-to treat an estimated 6,700 young Venezuelan children with moderate malnutrition for approximately two months to give them the vital nutrients they need to grow and thrive;
      • High-energy biscuits from a producer in Indonesia that are packed with vitamins and minerals that could serve as a temporary meal replacement or prevent acute malnutrition in an emergency for 10,000 Venezuelan schoolchildren for a month; and
      • Emergency medical kits that contain life-saving medical supplies and pharmaceuticals, each of which could serve a population of 10,000 in hospitals and community health centers for 90 days.
    • The U.S. Government is also pre-positioning additional U.S. relief supplies at warehouses maintained by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in Miami and Houston, ready for deployment to the region immediately:
      • These supplies include food, hygiene kits, blankets, water containers, kitchen sets, water bladders, and nutritional supplements.
  • To be effective, this aid must be allowed to enter Venezuela to reach those in need.
  • We call upon the entire like-minded international community, the private sector, and non-governmental organizations to join us in providing life-saving aid to Venezuelans.
  • The United States is rapidly increasing assistance efforts to support our Hemispheric partners and people inside of Venezuela. 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 affected countries to host displaced Venezuelans.

READ MORE

#EstamosUnidosVE: Venezuela Regional Crisis Response