Venezuela in crisis: The struggle for humanitarian aid

The first foreign relief goods are on the way to Venezuela. The government of Maduro rejects foreign aid. The dispute in Caracas is now being used politically.

By Anne-Kathrin Mellmann, ARD-Studio, Mexico city, currently Caracas

On a Central square in Caracas, a TV-fueled team of Nicolas Maduro pendant to the camera in righteous enthusiasm, because your chanting sounds a bit powerless. Behind it there is a long line. People want to pay for your socialist President Maduro, who is under pressure, since for him the self-appointed transitional President Juan Guaidó a challenge to open.

Officially, it is against humanitarian aid, which calls for Guaidó for the suffering of the population and for some countries - including Germany - money.

supporters of Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro to go for it on the road.

"We are a peace-loving people"

house wife Graciela Liendo waiting in the tropical heat for three hours: "I want to sign in order for the USA to understand that we are a peace-loving people. I don't want this humanitarian aid, which has come up with Guaidó. How good that our President Maduro all says, you should take care of their own problems." She says that the United States would hold for the owners of the world. Maduro had taken care of however, to food and medicines, but they would come eventually - and the housewife knows why: "Because of the economic war, the Empire is waging against us, and because of all the interference."

"it's Chaos"

patients, families and Doctors in a national cancer clinic, the see is quite different. The Propaganda fairy tale of the economic war they do not believe. They hope that the relief goods are on the way to Venezuela, may be the Colombian border. The ten-year-old Daniel, is two months ago with a huge Tumor to the knee on the children's ward.

The ten-year-old Daniel has a Tumor on the knee.

His parents pray that your son can be treated. But an important medicine not to get in the whole of Venezuela, says the pediatrician in charge of Manuel Camacho. Not even radiation there is in the cancer clinics: "it's a mess, and it's getting worse every day. Above all, a lot missing for us to be able to good chemo therapies. Humanitarian aid would be justified, it is necessary and should come." The government does not want to accept this kind of help, because they see in it the danger of a military Intervention. "In our opinion, this is a window that opens so we can save lives."

In this clinic, it's a matter of life and death. The deliveries of aid, the warring political camps-rings, supposed to be for the most urgent cases. The 300,000 Venezuelans floated because of the drugs in the absence of in danger to life, argues Juan Guaidó. We are not beggars, counters his opponent Nicolas Maduro. He demonized the aid deliveries as a "covert US Invasion".

Venezuela - fighting to humanitarian aid
Anne-Katrin Mellmann, ARD Mexico city
08.02.2019 13:57 PM

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