(AP)
FERNANDO VERGARA, GISELA SALOMON and FABIOLA SANCHEZ February 16, 2019
CUCUTA, Colombia — The U.S. Air Force began flying tons of aid to a Colombian town on the Venezuelan border on Saturday as part of an effort meant to undermine socialist President Nicolas Maduro and back his rival to leadership of the South American nation.
The first of three C-17 cargo planes took off from Homestead Air Reserve Base in Florida and landed in the Cucuta. That border city, swollen by a flood of migrants from Venezuela, is a collection point for aid that’s supposed to be distributed by backers of Juan Guaido, the congressional leader who is recognized by the U.S. and many other nations as Venezuela’s legitimate president.
Commercial planes had been used for earlier shipments of aid, which is aimed at dramatizing the economic crisis — including hyperinflation and shortages of food and medicine — gripping Venezuela under Maduro. Critics say last year’s re-election was fraudulent, making Maduro’s second term illegal.
Maduro has been using the military, which remains loyal, to help him block the aid from entering Venezuela, describing it as “crumbs” from a U.S. government whose restrictions have stripped his administration of control over many of its most valuable assets.
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