US to redirect Central America aid to Venezuela's Guaido
July 18, 2019
In a USAID memo, Donald Trump's administration said that funds would go to paying salaries of Juan Guaido's interim government, local NGO's and the promotion of independent media.
Image: Getty Images/E. Uzcategui
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The US is planning to divert nearly $42 million (€37 million) from development funding for Guatemala and Honduras to Venezuela's opposition, according to an internal memo obtained by the Los Angeles Times and other news agencies on Wednesday.
The move comes just months after the Trump administration announced it would be ending aid to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, the three countries at the center of the current migration wave to the US.
Trump blamed the three Central American nations for not doing enough to stop their citizens from migrating to the United States.
In the memo, USAID, the government's international development agency, said the "deviation” of the money was "necessary due to unforeseen events and exceptional circumstances.”
The US and more than 50 other countries have recognized Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president of Venezuela and supported his cause to dislodge Nicolas Maduro from power.
Despite the pressure, the leftist president has managed to remain in power, enjoying the support of the country's armed forces.
USAID stressed in the memo that Venezuela's political crisis was "a significant, exigent event in the US national interest" that required the diverted funds.
A portion of the money would finance Guaido directly. The memo said the funds could cover the "interim government staff salaries or stipends, work-related travel and other costs necessary to ensure full deployment of a transparent financial management system and other activities necessary for a democratic transition."
Some $2 million will go to support diplomatic efforts by Guaido's supporters as they negotiate with the Maduro regime, and $7.5 million will be dispensed to support independent media with the goal of providing Venezuelans with "unbiased and unfiltered sources of news and information," the memo said.
Other funds will go address other aspects, including strengthening human rights groups, election monitoring and civil society.
Neither the US State Department nor Juan Guaido's interim government has commented on the USAID memo.
While the Trump administration has been a strong opponent of Mauro's regime and highlighted the humanitarian crisis in the country, it also signaled on Wednesday that it would not grant protection to Venezuelans seeking refuge in the US.
In a response to a request by Democratic Senator Dick Durbin, the US Citizens and Immigration Services said it was not planning on adding Venezuela to the list of countries eligible for its Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program, which would allow citizens from that country stay in the US until the situation at home improves.
The TPS program has already been discontinued to migrants from other countries by the Trump administration. Without TPS, some 250,000 Venezuelans who are currently in the US would face deportation.
"President Trump cannot do both. He cannot warn Americans that Venezuela is such a dangerous place that they should not travel there, and then tell the Venezuelans in the United States that they are forced to return," Senators Dick Durbin and Bob Menendez said in a written statement.
jcg/bw (Reuters, EFE, AFP)
Venezuelans find refuge, solidarity in Colombia
Colombia's Maicao is infamous for its drug and people smuggling, violence and sexual exploitation. Venezuelan refugees living on the streets are an easy target. But a UNHCR-run reception center is offering a way out.
Image: DW/Eline van Nes
Waiting in line
Venezuelan migrants wait in line to have their registration number and details checked before receiving their lunch. The UN's World Food Program serves food three times a day.
Image: DW/Eline van Nes
Hanging out to dry
Rows of tents provided by the UNCHR for the refugees line the reception center in Maicao, providing as much comfort as is possible in these circumstances.
Image: DW/Eline van Nes
Looking for a way out
The recently inaugurated reception center in Maicao in the La Guajira region — a collaboration between the UNHCR, the UN's refugee agency and the Colombian authorities — is the first of its kind in Colombia. Local and national government agencies called on the UNHCR for aid because of the steady influx of Venezuelan migrants and refugees crossing the border into Maicao.
Image: DW/Eline van Nes
Lack of purpose
Domingo Antonio Fernandez Lopez, a 72-year-old former journalist and professor, used to hear about and see refugees in the news, but never thought he would end up in a shelter as well. Having worked most of his life, he now feels useless. Every morning he gets up, waits to have breakfast, and waters the area near the entrance of his tent because the dust is affecting his lungs and eyes.
Image: DW/Eline van Nes
Hoping for a better life
Rusmari Luna Pereira brought a bracelet with her from Venezuela her mother made for her for the trip. She had to leave with her children because she couldn’t provide for them anymore. She said some people in Venezuela give their children to other families, others abandoned them on the streets. She said she found those stories hard to believe but now understands how desperate some of them are.
Image: DW/Eline van Nes
Dreaming of home
Rosmery Castillo left Venezuela a month ago with two of her children and left a third with her brother. She was a nurse in Valencia but her minimum wage was wiped out by high inflation, leaving her with almost nothing to buy food. She plans to return to Venezuela as soon as the situation improves to be with her mother and grandmother, who she had to leave behind.
Image: DW/Eline van Nes
Sharing the will to survive
Rosmery Castillo (34, left) and Vanesa Añez Añez (19) did not know each other when they both arrived at the UNHCR reception center at the same time. They were placed in a tent to share.
Image: DW/Eline van Nes
A helping hand
A Colombian Red Cross clinic at the reception center caters to health issues the migrants and refugees may suffer from such as lung problems caused by the dust from the La Guajira Desert.
Image: DW/Eline van Nes
Solidarity and understanding
Xenophobia is always hovering in the background, but La Guajira has a historical connection with Maracaibo in Venezuela. Many people from La Guajira moved to Venezuela during the Colombian FARC conflict. There is solidarity among people of both sides. There are also many IDPs in Colombia, who understand what it is like for the Venezuelans to be in this predicament.
Image: DW/Eline van Nes
Taking the legal route
The official crossing between Colombia and Venezuela is marked by a few fences and soldiers standing guard. There is one official way to cross between Colombia and Venezuela, but some 150 illegal shortcuts, many of which end right in front of the official crossing.
