Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 17 april 2019

First Red Cross aid delivery lands in crisis-torn Venezuela

Associated Press infections to cancer treat-
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) ment they can no longer
— The first shipment of hu- obtain. Hospitals in Venezu-
manitarian aid from the ela often operate without
Red Cross arrived in Ven- essential supplies, asking
ezuela on Tuesday, deliv- patients to bring in surgical
ering medicine and sup- gear and medicine.
plies for needy patients in A recent report by Human
a country whose president Rights Watch in collabora-
has long denied the exis- tion with the Johns Hopkins
tence of a humanitarian Bloomberg School of Pub-
crisis. lic Health concluded Ven-
Workers in blue vests ezuela’s health system is
helped load boxes with the in “utter collapse.” It cited
Federation of Red Cross increased levels of mater-
and Red Crescent Societies nal and infant mortality,
emblem onto trucks while the spread of vaccine-pre-
leaders with the organiza- ventable diseases and high
tion pleaded for officials to levels of child malnutrition.
keep the aid out of the na- “The combination of medi-
tion’s political dispute. cine shortages and food
“It will be distributed in shortages, together with
conformance with the A convoy of trucks arrive at a warehouse transporting from the international airport the first the spread of diseases
fundamental principles of shipment International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies humanitarian aid, in across Venezuela’s bor-
our movement, especially Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, April 16, 2019. ders, amounts to a com-
neutrality, impartiality and Associated Press plex humanitarian emer-
independence,” said Ma- of politicizing the nation’s opposition leaders trying to to confront U.S. economic gency,” the report states.
rio Villarroel, president of crisis, which rights groups deliver the shipments. sanctions. In late March, the Red Cross
the Venezuelan Red Cross. say continues to cost lives “We aren’t beggars,” Mad- The delivery of any aid is federation announced it
“Don’t allow the politiciza- as hospitals struggle to pro- uro said in justifying his de- tacit recognition that his would soon begin deliver-
tion of this great achieve- vide even basic care. nial. country is indeed in the ing assistance to an esti-
ment.” Guaido has rallied the in- But as hundreds of thou- throes of a humanitarian mated 650,000 people and
The delivery of international ternational community and sands have taken to the crisis, a notion he has long vowed that it would not
humanitarian aid has be- collected several hundred streets protesting his rule dismissed as opposition accept interference from
come a focal point in Ven- tons of aid, primarily from this year, Maduro has been propaganda. either side of the polarized
ezuela’s power struggle, the United States, at the pressed to address the na- In recent years, an esti- country. Federation Presi-
now in its third month af- border in Colombia. But tion’s shortages of essen- mated 3.7 million people dent Francesco Rocca said
ter opposition leader Juan President Nicolas Maduro tial goods like food and have fled the South Ameri- Red Cross workers would fo-
Guaido declared himself has previously refused to al- medicine. He’s selectively can nation for neighboring cus on the medical needs
interim president. Both the low it in. In February, state chosen to accept aid from countries like Colombia, of hospitals, regardless of
opposition and the govern- security forces blocked bor- allies like China, framing it many seeking health care whether they are state-run
ment have been accused der bridges and repressed as a necessary measure for everything from minor or not.q

Brazil officials: Militias prevented oversight of buildings

By C.H. Gardiner torney general’s office said tax businesses and locals.
Associated Press that the two buildings were Residents were using the
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — part of an illegal construc- condemned structures up
Brazilian authorities said tion scheme led by militias. until their collapse last Fri-
Monday they knew about Such criminal organizations day after days of heavy
structural risks in the area often take over suburban rain.
where a pair of buildings areas in Rio to build and sell In February, Rio Mayor Mar-
collapsed but were unable unregulated housing in a celo Crivella said that the
to act due to the threat process called “grilagem.” city had been unable to
posed by organized crime. The office said that it had make drainage improve-
Rio de Janeiro’s mayor’s observed militias con- ments in the area due to
office and firefighters said ducting such business in militia activity, but police
that 10 people, including the area of the collapsed had secured the neighbor-
five children, were killed Residents watch as a helicopter prepares to take off carrying buildings as far back as hood and work was under-
when two buildings in the an injured woman rescued from the rubble of two buildings that 2005. But it said that courts way to resolve the issues.
Itanhanga neighborhood collapsed in the Muzema neighborhood, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, had blocked legal actions “After being abandoned
fell last week. The most re- Friday, April 12, 2019. to limit construction in the for so many years, I expect
cent casualty was an adult Associated Press area. the area to be redeemed
woman found dead early Moses Torres of the Rio fire lapsed in such a way that In January, a specialized for Rio de Janeiro,” Crivella
Monday morning. department told The Asso- they can sustain life for an anti-organized crime unit said at the time.
“As of yet we have man- ciated Press. extended period,” Torres conducted an operation He first met with commu-
aged to rescue 10 people “We have a lot more hope said, referring to the Janu- in the area to arrest 13 indi- nity leaders in March 2017
from the rubble but there is in situations like this, for ex- ary failure of a mining dam viduals associated with the to announce a plan to
still evidence of 14 poten- ample, than Brumadinho which killed 228 people. militias, but residents said improve sanitation in the
tially missing people,” Sgt. because the buildings col- On Monday, the state at- such groups continued to area. q