Trinidad and Tobago sent approximately 68 tonnes of food and commodities to crisis-hit Venezuela on Thursday, with hundreds more tonnes set to arrive in the coming days, a Venezuelan official said.
Venezuela, which is enduring severe shortages of food and other basic commodities, is to receive 600 tonnes of goods from Trinidad and Tobago under a trade agreement.
The embattled South American nation is grappling with an economic crisis prompted by the plunge in prices for its crucial oil exports, while the nation’s opposition is seeking to remove Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from office with a referendum he is resisting.
Maduro’s critics blame his economic mismanagement for the nation’s woes and denounces the jailing of his political opponents.
MUCH-NEEDED SUPPLIES
Two Venezuelan military aircraft made two trips on Thursday carrying chicken, rice, pasta, tomato sauce, mayonnaise and toilet paper to the nation.
Venezuelan Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade Renier Urbaez oversaw the shipment.
The goods were flown from Trinidad and Tobago’s Piarco International Airport to nearby Sucre state in northern Venezuela, he said.
MORE FOOD
The Venezuelan government is to transport approximately 170 more tonnes of food in the next three days, while the rest is to be sent to other states by sea beginning next week.
The goods are to be sold at subsidized prices through a state-owned company, Urbaez said.
The nation’s food crisis erupted into deadly looting last week. At least five people were killed and more than 400 arrested, authorities said.
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