CUCUTA, Colombia _ Amid honking horns and cheering onlookers, the first tangible signs of international aid to Venezuela rolled into this Colombian border town Thursday. But the brief celebrations masked a deeper uncertainty: How will the food and medicine be delivered if the Nicolas Maduro regime is vowing to keep it out at all costs?
The first batch of aid was hauled on two tractor trailers and seven cargo trucks that had made the 340-mile journey from Colombia's capital, Bogota. Rounding a corner on the outskirts of Cucuta, the convoy disappeared into the "Las Tienditas" border compound _ one of three international staging sites for Venezuelan relief efforts.
Venezuela's Interim President Juan Guaido has said the aid is critical to keeping hundreds of thousands of people alive. But Maduro _ who also considers himself president _ says it's a cynical U.S. ploy to lay the groundwork for a military intervention.
Earlier this week, Venezuelan authorities used cargo containers and a tanker truck to block an international bridge that connects Colombia and Venezuela in an attempt to derail or hinder the aid.
On Thursday, Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza accused the United States of causing the country's hardships with financial and oil sanctions that have cost $30 billion.
"If we had those more than $30 billion, Venezuela would be at the peak of its prosperity," he said.
Analysts point out, however, that Venezuela's economic troubles began long before the U.S. began imposing sanctions in earnest in 2015. And the harshest sanctions on the country's oil sector were only imposed last month.
Instead, economists say, widespread corruption, draconian price and currency controls and mismanagement have ruined the once wealthy nation.
The U.S. Agency for International Development and the Colombian government provided this first round of aid, largely food and medicine, but organizers are hoping it's the beginning of a larger push.
Guaido has said that aid collection sites will also be established in Brazil and on an undisclosed island in the Caribbean.
On Wednesday, Puerto Rican officials said they had flown 3,600 pounds of medicine and food to Venezuela. But the news that the commonwealth had made a stealth delivery caught some U.S. officials by surprise, and the effort wasn't linked to the broader aid strategy.
The Trump administration has pledged $20 million in direct aid to Venezuela in addition to the estimated $140 million it has spent since fiscal year 2017 helping Venezuelan migrants in the region.
Part of that U.S. assistance is going to be a soup kitchen in Cucuta run by the Catholic Church that offers 4,600 free meals a day Monday through Saturday.
On Thursday, Evelia Carrero, 76, was at the Divine Providence food bank with her three grandchildren. Carrero said they had traveled 10 hours by bus in the hopes of getting the free plate of food.
"I have been so hungry," she said, crying. "Yes, we eat in Venezuela, but it's so pitiful, some days it will be just an arepa or rice without meat or anything."
While she was in Colombia, she said she hoped to sell some lollipops and candy to make enough money to take some food back with them to Venezuela. With such desperate needs in Venezuela, she said couldn't understand why Maduro, 56, would punish his own people by refusing free food and medicine.
"He's lying and spreading falsehoods," she said. "He's trying to fool us, but everyone's going hungry."
Venezuela has been mired in a deep political crisis since Jan. 23, when Guaido said it was his constitutional duty as head of congress to assume the presidency. But Maduro insists he won re-election in 2018 and has the right to rule through 2025.
While Guaido has popular and international support, Maduro still seems to have the backing of the military.
On Thursday, Guaido released a video urging the armed forces to abandon Maduro and help create a "humanitarian corridor" to funnel aid into the country.
"Soldiers, you can save your mothers, your sisters, your sons and your daughters," Guaido said. "Are you going to deny your family the possibility of aid ... and of living in a better country? The time is now."
