UN Advocates Doubling Aid Budget for Venezuela Exodus

HAVANA TIMES – The United Nations’ 737-million-dollar appeal to help the millions of people who have fled Venezuela this year will likely have to be doubled for 2020, a senior UN envoy said Wednesday, reported dpa news.

So far, donor countries have only funded half of this year’s appeal, Eduardo Stein, special representative for Venezuelan refugees and migrants, said in Geneva.

The United States has contributed by far the largest share this year, followed by the European Union, Germany and Canada.

Most of the 4.5 million Venezuelans who have left their country have fled during the past four years.

The oil-rich country has been shaken by a violent power struggle between Maduro’s government and the opposition, led by Juan Guaido.

Maduro won a second term in elections widely considered fraudulent and boycotted by most of the opposition last year.

On top of the political crisis, Venezuela has suffered an economic collapse.

However, Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro denies any humanitarian crisis in his country and counts on Cuba and Russia as his main allies along with China, Turkey, Iran and Nicaragua.

Stein’s comments came ahead of an International Solidarity Conference for Venezuela which the EU, the UN Refugee Agency and the International Organization for Migration have organized for next Monday and Tuesday in Brussels.

The meeting aims to raise global awareness of the crisis. A separate donor meeting is planned for next year.