Open food, medicine channel to Venezuela

While we can all sit back and watch the death of Venezuela’s democracy, we should not be so inhumane to allow its children, elders and sick (to highlight those at risk) to die of starvation and malnutrition.

The Maduro regime has caused the collapse of the food and pharmaceutical industries and they now control who gets food (not medicine) and how much, depending on if you agree with his revolutionary and socialist ideology or not.

If you don’t, you won’t be able to access the recently implemented CLAP food programme that consists of bagging the food that the Maduro regime thinks you should eat, and selling it to you at what they also think is a “justice price.” Venezuela’s public and private health sectors have collapsed and only those who can leave the country and find medication have a chance of surviving.

Venezuelans and NGOs have been calling for international organisations such as the Red Cross and United Nations to help citizens (not the Maduro regime) to ensure access to medicine and food through a humanitarian channel that can guarantee that goods and supplies will be distributed to those in critical need, and not to the Venezuela Army which is another arm of the Maduro political party PSUV.

Since 2014, concerned citizens in TT have made many attempts to send food and medicine to Venezuela, but only a limited quantity can be sent through the normal couriers which have increased the shipping price due to the demand.

The people of Venezuela need our help, TT , let’s not leave politicians in our Latin American and Caribbean region to do what they do best, which is to impoverish the population so that they can remain in power.

So today I call to all the humanitarian NGOs and concerned citizens to help break down the barriers and facilitate the opening of a humanitarian channel to Venezuela so that organised and credible organisations in TT can ship and distribute the food and medication being donated by thousands but which is not being allowed to enter Venezuela.

You, TT , those who can help need to step up and do what is morally right.

HEIDI DIQUEZ via email