Venezuela received the first shipment of Red-Cross humanitarian aid on Tuesday, intended to eliminate economic crisis in the oil-rich nation, the organization’s representative and a lawmaker reported.
According to Reuters news reports, the deliveries come after embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro stated last week his government has reached a deal with the Red Cross organization to bring in aid into the country.
In a speech, which broadcasted on Venezuelan state-run TV, Maduro said, “The International Red Cross today delivered its first batch of support for Venezuela, together with the revolutionary government that I lead, and it was received in a legal and orderly way, complying with international protocols.”
There were little hopes that the aid – intended to improve Venezuelan economic and humanitarian condition – would be anything more than palliative measures for Caracas, where more than three million people fled the chaos of shortage of humanitarian aid.
But opposition lawmaker Miguel Pizarro said Maduro’s government lack of “interference” with the entry of humanitarian aid was a positive sign and that more aid is coming into the country within days.
“The same people who had previously denied the arrival (of aid), who had previously brought this country to the verge of confrontation, are today complying with humanitarian principles,” Pizarro told reporters at the Congress.
According to the Red Cross, Tuesday’s shipment, which arrived via aeroplane from Panama included 14 power generators, 5,000 litres of distilled water, and three surgery equipment kits capable of serving 10,000 patients each.