Russia's UN envoy urges US to stop 'force-feeding' Venezuela with aid

The United States should unfreeze Venezuela’s assets instead of going ahead with its hypocritical attempts to deliver aid to Venezuela, which look more like "force-feeding," Russia’s UN envoy Vasily Nebenzya said.

"The Venezuelan authorities are ready to accept the required humanitarian and technological assistance. However, in order to work according to this scheme, it is necessary to unblock an opportunity for Caracas to pay for the delivery of food and medicines," the diplomat told the UN Security Council meeting on Venezuela.

Commenting on the February 23 attempt to deliver aid to Venezuela despite the government’s resistance, Nebenzya said that "under no circumstances can it be described as a humanitarian mission."

"What took place on Saturday looks not like an aid, it looks like what the US calls ‘force-feeding.’ It’s a type of torture, in case you did not know," he said.

"Instead of a hypocritical attempt to deliver aid worth $20 million, it is necessary to immediately unblock the accounts of Venezuelan state-run companies in US banks, worth $11 billion, which were allocated by the government to purchase medicines, food and daily essentials," he said.

On February 23, Venezuelan opposition attempted to fetch international humanitarian assistance into the country from Colombia and Brazil, despite the government’s decision to seal borders in order to prevent the delivery. This triggered clashes between opposition activists and Venezuelan police and National Guard units deployed at the border, several aid convoy trucks were set on fire. The turmoil left hundreds of people injured, dozens of them were nationals of Colombia. The death toll varies between four and 25, according to different sources.