Preventing Foreign Aid from Entering Venezuela; Army Kills One at Brazil Border

According to witnesses, Venezuelan armed forces shot and killed at least one person and injured several others on Friday, March 1, at the border with Brazil. This marks the first casualties related to the opposition's efforts to bring foreign aid into Venezuela, in open defiance of Nicolas Maduro's orders. Reuters reports that simultaneously with this incident, a concert organized by British billionaire Richard Branson to raise funds for Venezuela was held in the Colombian city of Cucuta, near the border with Venezuela, featuring several Latin singers and music groups. Maduro has closed the border with Brazil to prevent foreign aid from entering. The United States has been stockpiling its aid in this city since last week and plans to transfer it into Venezuela in the next two days. Tensions in Venezuela have escalated since Juan Guaido, the head of the National Assembly, declared himself interim president several weeks ago. The opposition is calling for the transfer of foreign humanitarian aid to the country, but Nicolas Maduro, whose position has weakened, denies the existence of basic goods shortages and the humanitarian crisis in the country. He claims the opposition's efforts to transfer aid are a 'ridiculous show' orchestrated by the U.S. to undermine the Venezuelan government. Maduro's government has blocked the southern borders of Venezuela with Brazil and threatened to close the border with Colombia before Sunday when the opposition plans to bring U.S. aid into the country. Some political analysts say the main issue in the confrontations on Saturday and Sunday is not to meet the needs of the Venezuelan people but rather a test of the loyalty of the armed forces to Nicolas Maduro if they prevent the entry of this aid. Recently, Maduro also issued a ban on air and sea travel between Venezuela and the island of Curacao, which is Dutch-controlled and located near Venezuela in the Caribbean, where some humanitarian aid is stored. Meanwhile, Juan Guaido set out on Thursday with a convoy from Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, heading to the Colombian border to bring another batch of aid stored in Cucuta back to his country. Given the two million percent inflation and the government's currency control policy that has restricted the entry of basic goods into the country, the people of Venezuela are facing severe shortages of medicine, and a large portion of the 30 million population lacks sufficient food.