Interim President of Venezuela Juan Guaidó and some 80 lawmakers headed toward the Colombian border in a vehicle convoy on Feb. 21, hoping to receive humanitarian aid for their famished nation even as ousted socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro grounded air traffic and closed maritime and land border crossings.
Guaidó, recognized by more than 50 nations as the legitimate head of state, said he plans to bring in aid by land and sea on Feb. 23 to alleviate severe and widespread shortages of food and medicine. Guaido and the lawmakers from the National Assembly departed Caracas on the morning of Feb. 21 for the 500-mile trip to Cucuta, Colombia, a border town where tons of aid from the United States is piling up. Crowds formed along a major street in Caracas as Guaidó’s convoy departed. Venezuelans waived national flags and cheered in support.
