At least two people were killed and trucks loaded with foreign aid were set ablaze after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro deployed troops and armored vehicles to turn back humanitarian assistance at border crossings with Colombia and Brazil. Venezuelan troops have barricaded a bridge on the country’s western border with Colombia in an apparent attempt to prevent the entry of humanitarian aid sent by opposition leaders trying to force Nicolás Maduro from power. On Wednesday at lunchtime, a fuel tanker and two shipping containers blocked the Tienditas international bridge, which connects the two countries and has become a staging ground for the planned relief effort. Members of Venezuela’s Bolivarian national guard could also be seen at the bridge.
The heavyweight barricades reinforced some small concrete blocks and light chainlink fencing already in place on the bridge, which although structurally functional and roadworthy, has been closed to traffic since its completion in 2016, owing to an ongoing Venezuela-Colombia border dispute. A convoy carrying the aid, which was donated by the US, left Bogotá at 11am on Wednesday and was making its way along winding mountain rounds to Cúcuta, a Colombian government official said. The earliest it will reach the border is Thursday morning. Maduro has repeatedly denied his economically devastated country is facing a humanitarian crisis, apparently fearing such an acceptance could be used to justify foreign military intervention. “We are not beggars,” he said in a speech to troops this week.
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