CUCUTA, Colombia (AP) — U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio visited a border staging point for U.S. aid to Venezuela on Sunday and warned soldiers loyal to socialist President Nicolas Maduro that it will be a “crime against humanity” if they block entry of the goods that are being channeled through Maduro’s rivals.
An enthusiastic throng of Venezuelan migrants, some chanting “Rubio! Liberty,” met the Florida Republican as he visited Cucuta and held a news conference in sight of a border bridge that has been flooded in recent months by people fleeing the hardships of Venezuela’s hyperinflation and severe shortages of food and medicine.
The U.S. has used military and civilian aircraft to fly in food and personal care aid in an effort meant to undermine Maduro and dramatize his government’s inability to overcome shortages of food and medicine. The aid is supposed to be moved into Venezuela on Feb. 23 by supporters of congressional leader Juan Guaido, who is recognized the U.S. and dozens of other countries as Venezuela’s legitimate president.
Maduro Is using troops to block the aid from entering, saying it is not needed and is part of a U.S.-orchestrated attempt to overthrow him.
Rubio warned Venezuelan soldiers that blocking aid would be an international “crime against humanity.” He said in Spanish that soldiers who keep aid shipments from entering would spend “the rest of their lives hiding from justice.”
But those who renounce Maduro have been promised amnesty by Guaido and the opposition-dominated congress, although few soldiers have accepted that promised.
Rubio, who has been an influential voice in advocating U.S measures against Maduro, noted that about 50 nations have declared Guaido the constitutional president of Venezuela, based on arguments that Maduro’s re-election last year was fraudulent, and consider other government-stacked institutions such as the supreme court to have no legal authority.
While Russia, China, Turkey and a large number of Asian and African countries still back Maduro, Rubio dismissed them, saying in English: “The countries that support Maduro do not surprise us. All of them are corrupt and none of them is a democracy and many of them are owed billions of dollars that they want to get paid by the corrupt regime.”
Rubio said the issue is “a humanitarian crisis, of human beings who have nothing to do with politics.”
