Washington, Feb 23 (Sputnik) Any claims that the US shipments to Venezuela are anything other than humanitarian assistance for the Latin American country are absurd, a State Department spokesperson told Sputnik. Earlier on Friday, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the United States is deploying special forces and weapons closer to the Venezuelan border. "The United States is airlifting and pre-positioning additional humanitarian commodities to provide relief to Venezuelans coping with severe food and medicine shortages, in response to Venezuelan Interim President Guaido''s call for international humanitarian assistance," the official said on Friday.
"The peaceful transport missions were planned at the request of the Department of State, in close coordination with USAID, and with the approval of the Government of Colombia. Any claims that these shipments are something other than humanitarian aid are simply preposterous." The spokesperson added that Washington is calling on the entire international community, the private sector, and non-governmental organizations to join the United States. The situation in Venezuela turned into a serious crisis since speaker of parliament Juan Guaido had proclaimed himself the country''s interim president on January 23. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has called Guaido a US puppet and accused Washington of organizing a coup in Venezuela.
The Venezuelan opposition set February 23 as the date for bringing in US relief aid that had been collected at logistics hubs in Brazil, Colombia and on Curacao. Maduro, however, refused to allow the aid into the country, blasting it as a ploy to topple his government. Earlier in the day, Maduro said that Venezuela has agreed to accept an EU humanitarian aid offer worth $2.3 billion that will be delivered via the UN system. The UN and international aid groups have called on the United States to not politicize humanitarian aid. The United States, Canada and a number of their allies have recognized Guaido''s leadership, while Russia, China, Mexico and Turkey have stressed that Maduro is the only legitimate president and called for dialogue.
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