CARACAS, Venezuela | As President Nicolas Maduro deploys missiles and infantrymen to Venezuela’s borders bracing for what he claims is U.S. coup plot disguised as humanitarian aid, his opponents are rallying their own troops. Nurses, doctors, engineers and homemakers have volunteered by the thousands to distribute the food and medicine in the face of a government ban.
The citizen brigade is one of the most ambitious undertakings the opposition has attempted. The plan — to bring tons of food and medicine into the country for sick, malnourished Venezuelans — is in open defiance of Maduro, who considers it a foreign military intervention.
The volunteers anticipate running into roadblocks by soldiers who remain loyal to Maduro. They know that their chances of breaking through are slim, but they’re undaunted.
“There’s a lot of concern about how it’s going to come into the country,” said Dr. Danny Golindano, speaking to a group of volunteers through a crackly microphone at a Caracas plaza. “As health providers, it’s our duty.”
The opposition plans to mobilize on Saturday. Leaders say they will make a first attempt to bring the emergency food and medicine across the border from Colombia, Brazil and the Caribbean island of Curacao, all of which have been blocked by the government. Air and sea travel were halted from Curacao this week and the border with Brazil was ordered closed indefinitely on Thursday. Earlier this month, Venezuelan troops barricaded the main bridge linking the country to the Colombian border city of Cucuta, where U.S. aid is stored.
The opposition has not detailed how they will overcome those government obstacles.
Opposition leader Juan Guaido, who has declared himself Venezuela’s interim president to overthrow Maduro, has called on “caravans” of volunteers to help bring in and deliver the supplies to the neediest Venezuelans. He’s repeatedly called on soldiers to stand down and reject Maduro’s orders blocking them, but large-scale defections haven’t appeared.
Young and old, the army of aid volunteers answering Guaido’s call includes hospital orderlies, lawyers, psychologists, university students and retirees. So far, more than 800,000 volunteers have signed up to help through a designated website, organizers say.
Galindano gathered dozens of volunteers one day this week at a tree-covered Caracas plaza to give them instructions on the humanitarian aid. Holding a microphone, he explained the large-scale crisis crippling medical care, a reality many have endured with their own families.
Fired from a public hospital in Caracas for reporting the deaths of eight cancer patients under unsanitary conditions, Galindano has turned to charity work to prevent more Venezuelans from dying due to lack of medicine and supplies. He now serves as a national coordinator for the Venezuelan non-profit Doctors for Health.
Addressing the crowd of volunteers, Galindano explained that once the humanitarian aid enters Venezuela, non-profit groups and churches will take the lead in distributing it. Four large hospitals will function as collection centers and distribute it to regional health centers, he said.
Alesia Santacroce, a lawyer and university professor for the past 30 years, listened closely, saying she felt compelled to volunteer, although it’s unclear what role she will play. She and her mother already run a soup kitchen that provides free meals to 500 poor people every weekend.
