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Brazil to open aid storage centre for Venezuela: Guaido envoys

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AFP Brasilia

Brazil has agreed to store tons of humanitarian aid at a centre near the border with Venezuela, envoys sent by opposition leader Juan Guaido said Monday after meetings with Brazilian officials.

The centre, to be set up in Roraima state, would be the second on the Venezuelan border after one in Cucuta, Colombia, said Lester Toledo, the head of Guaido's aid distribution team.

Guaido, who proclaimed himself Venezuela's interim president last month, is in a test of wills with the Venezuelan military and government of President Nicolas Maduro, which has blocked the aid from entering the country.

Guaido's envoy to Brazil, Maria Teresa Belandria, said she had received assurances from Brazilian Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo over the new aid centre.

 

Toledo said "in coming days we will visit the state of Roraima to see where this storage center will be and from next week we will organize the arrival of this humanitarian aid."

Several tons of medicine, food and basic items have been stocked since Thursday in Cucuta, close to the border crossing point of Tienditas which Venezuelan soldiers have blocked with freight containers.

Maduro denies that any "humanitarian crisis" exists in his country, attributing severe lack of basic food and products to US sanctions.

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First Published: Feb 11 2019 | 11:25 PM IST

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