Two ‘presidents’ of Venezuela clash over aid; Guaido vows to bring in foreign help in country

Caracas, Feb 13: Days after Venezuela's embattled president Nicolas Maduro decided to stall entry of foreign aid to the country saying his countrymen are not beggars, his challenger and opposition leader Juan Guaido has vowed to do just the opposite.

At a rally in Caracas on Tuesday, February 12, Guaido, who proclaimed himself to be the president last month, promised that the humanitarian aid blocked by Maduro will be brought to Venezuela to give relief to the common people.

The 35-year-old leader said new collection points and routes into Venezuela will see the volunteers bringing in the aid. Maduro, on the other hand, has suspected the entry of the aid as a strategy by the US to enter the Latin American country and topple him.

Venezuela is in the middle of a massive economic crisis that has seen millions of people fleeing the country in the last five years.

The Opposition has accused Maduro of illegally clinging on to power after he took oath for a second term in January following a controversial election last year.

"We have almost 300,000 Venezuelans who will die if the aid doesn't enter. There are almost two million at health risk," said Mr Guaidó at the rally on Tuesday.

He has vowed to bring in the aid by February 23, exactly a month since he proclaimed himself as the president.

Guaido has been recognised by the US and several other western and Latin American nations as Venezuela's interim president while a few countries like Russia, China and Turkey have backed Maduro.