A senior US official told Reuters that Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has requested State Department assistance to return to her country under the cover of earthquake relief. The official expressed frustration, questioning the timing of the request so soon after a massive humanitarian disaster.
A senior US official told Reuters that Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has requested US State Department assistance to return to her country under the cover of earthquake relief for victims of last week's devastating tremors. The official expressed frustration at the request, questioning whether it should come '24 hours after a massive humanitarian disaster, when the death toll is still rising,' according to the report.
The relief operation has been a major international effort: as The Zioneer reported, US aid planes began landing at a partially reopened Venezuelan airport on Saturday, and the US pledged $150 million in aid. Machado, a leading opposition figure who has been in exile or on the move since the political upheaval following the Maduro government's fall, appears to be seeking to leverage the logistics of the aid flow. The official's remarks highlight growing friction between the opposition's political goals and the immediate humanitarian priorities in Washington. As of this report, no US decision on the request has been confirmed.
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