{"id":3262,"date":"2019-02-28T14:22:45","date_gmt":"2019-02-28T14:22:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/?p=3262"},"modified":"2019-02-28T14:22:45","modified_gmt":"2019-02-28T14:22:45","slug":"infant-mortality-in-venezuela-has-doubled-during-crisis-un-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/2019\/02\/28\/infant-mortality-in-venezuela-has-doubled-during-crisis-un-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Infant mortality in Venezuela has doubled during crisis, UN says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

UN security council officials clash over \u2018politicised\u2019 aid to troubled country as peace-building chief warns of \u2018grim realities\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Infant mortality in Venezuela<\/a> has soared by roughly 50% during the prolonged political crisis in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Briefing the UN security council, the UN\u2019s political and peace building chief, Rosemary DiCarlo, depicted a devastating collapse in Venezuela\u2019s health system. She warned that 40% of medical staff had left the country and said hospital stocks of medicine had dwindled to 20% of the required level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DiCarlo said the \u201cprotracted crisis\u201d in the country had led in recent weeks to an \u201calarming escalation of tensions\u201d. Four people died and hundreds were injured in clashes last weekend at the country\u2019s borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Security council members clashed over the increasingly politicised humanitarian aid efforts to Venezuela, the government of which, led by Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a>, is backed by China and Russia, and opposed by the US and a number of European and Latin American countries, who want Maduro to step down.G<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Read more<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DiCarlo warned of the \u201cgrim reality\u201d facing a country where citizens are dying of preventable causes and 3.4 million people have fled the worsening conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commenting on the recent politicisation of aid efforts to Venezuela, DiCarlo said the UN was coordinating efforts to deliver assistance as close as possible to Venezuelans in need. She added that aid delivery should be free \u201cfrom political objectives and delivered on the basis of need\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DiCarlo noted that while supplies sent by Russia and China have entered the country, in coordination with the Venezuelan government, supplies from the US and other countries have been stockpiled at the Colombian and Brazilian borders. Earmarked for distribution by the Venezuelan opposition, these supplies\u00a0remained blocked<\/a>\u00a0from entering the country by Venezuelan authorities, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The politicisation of aid efforts has caused widespread alarm in the international aid community. Many have watched with dismay as supporters of both sides have sought to funnel aid to the advantage of one or other of the rival parties, some trying to back the government of Maduro, others the opposition led by Juan Guaid\u00f3, the self-declared interim president, who is championed by the US<\/a>.Advertisement<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DiCarlo\u2019s presentation to the security council followed violent clashes<\/a> at the weekend that focused on failed efforts to deliver aid to the Venezuelan opposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quoting Colombian and UN human rights officials, DiCarlo blamed the involvement of pro-government armed elements in the violent attacks on protestors at Venezuela\u2019s borders that left four dead and 285 injured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking on behalf of the US, Elliott Abrams, the Trump administration\u2019s special representative for Venezuela, called on the members of the security council to \u201cpressure the illegitimate regime to peacefully step down\u201d, accusing Maduro of preferring to \u201cblock and burn donated medicine and bread than see it in the hands of Venezuelan children\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russia\u2019s representative, Vassily Nebenzia, countered by painting US-backed efforts to deliver aid at the weekend as \u201can attempted illegal state border crossing for the delivery of unknown cargo\u201d, adding that the aid had not been requested by the Venezuelan government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a>














A pharmacy in Caracas. The Maduro government has been accused of blocking medical aid supplies. Photograph: Noel West\/Reuter
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Despite the deadly clashes at the weekend, the Trump administration appeared to be running into increasing resistance to its approach to the standoff. Spain\u2019s prime minister, Pedro S\u00e1nchez, said on Wednesday that while it was clear Maduro had \u201cno intention of negotiating\u201d, Spain was opposed to any foreign military intervention<\/a> in the economically-strapped country.Advertisement<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He \u201cdoes not want sincere negotiations\u201d, said Spain\u2019s socialist leader, who earlier this month recognised Guaid\u00f3<\/a> as interim leader of Venezuela after Maduro rejected pressure to call a snap general election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

S\u00e1nchez, however, firmly rejected any foreign military intervention to topple Maduro, which the US has touted as a possibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We express \u201cour rejection of any non-peaceful solution, and particularly any foreign military intervention in Venezuela,\u201d he told lawmakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are some mistakes of the past that must not be committed again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UN security council officials clash over \u2018politicised\u2019 aid to troubled country as peace-building chief warns of \u2018grim realities\u2019 Infant mortality in Venezuela has soared by roughly 50% during the prolonged political crisis in the country. Briefing the UN security council, the UN\u2019s political and peace building chief, Rosemary DiCarlo, depicted a devastating collapse in Venezuela\u2019s health system. She warned that 40% of… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":77,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/77"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3262"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3263,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3262\/revisions\/3263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}