Venezuela crisis latest: President Maduro blocks border bridge where humanitarian aid was set to arrive | London Evening Standard

Venezuela crisis latest: President Maduro blocks border bridge where humanitarian aid was set to arrive

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Venezuela’s president has blocked a border bridge where humanitarian aid was set to arrive claiming ‘we are not beggars.’

The move by President Maduro has sparked anger among desperate Venezuelans in need of medicine and food.

Security forces blocked the three-lane border with Colombia on Tuesday using two shipping containers and a fuel tanker.

Armed guards are stood at the customs building vowing to turn back any attempt to cross the border.

Venezuelan military forces stand guard as they block a bridge with containersAFP/Getty Images

The aid supplied by the US has been rejected by the president after the Trump administration recognised opposition leader Juan Guaido as the rightful interim ruler of the South American nation.

This image taken from video, shows a fuel tanker, cargo trailers and makeshift fencing, blocking the border bridgeAP

In the Venezuelan border town of Urena, residents signed up to unofficial waiting lists for aid.

"We're desperate. Our money is not worth anything. Maduro may not like the help, but he should think about people who do not have anything to eat," said Livia Vargas, 40. "I signed up on a list to receive aid but then they told us that it would not work like that."

Venezuelan head of state Nicolas Maduro gestures during a press conferenceEPA

International pressure is growing on Mr Maduro to step down after major European Union nations this week joined the United States, Canada and a group of Latin American countries in recognising Mr Guaido as Venezuela's legitimate leader following Mr Maduro's re-election last year in a vote critics called a sham.

Mr Guaido, the head of Venezuela's National Assembly, has urged the military to turn on Mr Maduro and support a transition to democracy.

U.S. officials said aid was on its way this week.

Opposition activists pour to the streets to back Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido's calls for early electionsAFP/Getty Images

Colombian and U.S. authorities have remained silent on how they plan to distribute the aid without Mr Maduro's approval.

Shipments are also due to come from Venezuelan companies abroad, Colombia, Canada and Germany.

Venezuela's opposition leader and self-proclaimed acting president Juan Guaido attends a session of the National Assembly in CaracasAFP/Getty Images

Colombian Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo said on Wednesday airplanes had arrived in Colombia and paperwork was being handled to send the aid to the border town of Cucuta. It was not clear where they arrived or what was on board.

Peering through cracks in a sheet metal fence to an area where U.S. humanitarian aid is due to be stockpiled in Cucuta, Venezuelan Yesica Leonett pleaded for information on how her four children can benefit from the donations.

"People need help. My children eat boiled banana skins, shredded like meat," said Leonett, 31, who fled Venezuela eight months ago.

Colombia has received more than 1.1 million Venezuelans, with about 3,000 entering each day. Government estimates reach 4 million by 2021 if the crisis in Venezuela is not resolved.

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Additional reporting by agencies.