The first shipment of the highly anticipated Red Cross aid arrived in Venezuela today. The aid arrived on board an airplane that landed at the Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia, just north of Caracas. The aid arrived from a warehouse in Panama.
The arrival of the aid was announced two weeks ago, when Francesco Rocca–the president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies–said that the conditions existed for the organization to deliver and distribute aid in Venezuela. Previously, the Red Cross had refused to involve itself in the matter of aid delivery into Venezuela, given the highly politicized nature of the issue.
When he made his announcement two weeks ago, Rocca said that the Red Cross would be able to help as many as 650,000 Venezuelans during its first relief operation.
The video below shows Red Cross workers unloading the aid off the airplane at the Simon Bolivar International Bridge:
More footage of the aid being unloaded:
Below, images of the Red Cross aid trucks at the airport:
The video below shows a Red Cross caravan, likely heading towards Caracas, from the airport:
For years, the Maduro regime has denied that there was a humanitarian crisis underway in Venezuela, and therefore no aid relief was needed.
Interim president Juan Guaido qualified the arrival of the aid as an opposition victory in a thread posted on Twitter. Referencing remarks he had made in the days prior to the events of February 23, Guaido reminded his followers that the opposition had promised that the aid would arrive:
We promised that the [humanitarian aid] would enter our country [no matter way]. Today the regime has been forced to recognize its failure, and all of Venezuela must be sure that we are heading down the right path towards our freedom.
Let’s give it our all!
Today is a great achievement for Venezuelans and a defeat for the usurper [Maduro].
Today a plane arrived carrying [humanitarian aid] to benefit some Venezuelans who were at risk of death, despite an inhumane regime.
Only an end to the usurpation will resolve the emergency.
Aid Shipment Heads to Caracas’ 23 de Enero
Some of the Red Cross aid was delivered to Caracas’ 23 de enero, one of the city’s poorest areas.
The video below shows residents of the area receiving aid there:
Another video of the relief effort there:
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