Venezuela shuts border with Caribbean islands ahead of aid efforts

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Venezuela on Tuesday shut the maritime border with nearby Dutch Caribbean islands ahead of an opposition effort to bring in humanitarian aid from foreign territories including neighboring Curacao despite the protests of President Nicolas Maduro.

Maduro has rejected offers of foreign aid, denying there are widespread shortages and insisting that the country's economic problems are the result of sanctions by Washington.

Opposition leader Juan Guaido has said that food and medicine provided in part by the United States will enter Venezuela by land and sea on Saturday.

The closure blocks movement of boats and aircraft between the western Venezuelan coastal state of Falcon and the islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao, said Vice Admiral Vladimir Quintero, who heads a military unit in Falcon.

Venezuela's Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez attends a news conference in Caracas, February 19, 2019. /VCG Photo

Curacao's government, which has agreed to receive aid for Venezuela without being involved in its delivery, said in a statement that the closure was meant "to prevent humanitarian aid from getting in."

"Curacao will not force in the aid, but it will continue to function as a logistical center," it said.

The United States has sent tons of aid to Colombia's border with Venezuela. Maduro has mocked the effort as a "cheap show" by the United States, insisting Washington should help his government by lifting crippling oil sector sanctions.

Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino in a televised broadcast on Tuesday said Venezuelan troops would remain stationed along the country's borders to prevent territorial violations.

"They will never accept orders from any foreign government. They will remain deployed and alert along the borders, as our commander in chief has ordered, to avoid any violations of our territory's integrity," Padrino said.

Source(s): Reuters