Prayers, holy water as Venezuelans push Curacao aid shipment

Pulse News Agency International by AFP

February 23, 2019 4:33 PM

Waving flags and chanting the Hail Mary, Venezuelan opposition supporters rallied in Curacao's port Saturday as the island's government indicated it may allow their humanitarian aid shipment to sail.

Flag-waving Venezuelan opposition supporters rallied on February 23, 2019 in the port of Willemstad, Curacao, where red trucks carried aid intended for Venezuela

While in Venezuela deadly border clashes and military desertions raised tensions in the country's political standoff, on the sleepy Caribbean island of Curacao a handful of expatriates pressured the socialist government on a separate front.

Standing near one of the red trucks carrying the pallets of aid, Venezuelan priest Julio Gonzalez, 33, blessed the cargo and sprinkled holy water on the excited crowd.

"We trust in God to open the way... and to destroy the enemy," he said, before leading a recitation of the Hail Mary and the Lord's Prayer. "With love, everything is possible."

Aruba-based Venezuelan television presenter Maite Delgado and a child dressed as Spiderman sat posing for photos on the hood of one of the cargo trucks, hung with a yellow, red and blue Venezuelan flag.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has branded the opposition's humanitarian aid drive as a "show" and a smokescreen for a US invasion.

The Curacao shipment of aid from private donors in Florida is part of a broader aid effort by the Venezuelan opposition.

The effort has become a focus of the power struggle between Maduro and self-declared head of state Juan Guaido.

An indirect route

Blocked from shipping the aid directly to Venezuela by the Curacao government for security reasons, the Venezuelans presented freight documents certifying that the vessel will first head for the island of Bonaire.

"It is a commercial boat, so if they say they are going to Bonaire we are not in any way able to block them," Curacao government communications officer Corinne Leysner told AFP.

"If they go to Bonaire and then to Venezuela afterwards, we don't have anything to say about that."

The plan to enter Venezuelan waters raised the risk of a maritime confrontation; Maduro has ordered the country's sea border with Curacao to be closed to block the aid.

Politics and need

Maduro's opponents want to swing the momentum against him in the hope that the military will drop its support for him.

Volunteers are also trying to pass aid via the Brazilian and Colombian borders. The Curacao consignment represents a third front in the aid drive.

Authorities had turned the cargo away from the port on Friday as the government warned it would not let the shipment head for Venezuela.

Pushing for a solution, Venezuelan volunteers rallied in the cathedral of Curacao's capital Willemstad on Friday night and again in the port on Saturday morning, the start of carnival weekend.

"The idea is to apply a bit of pressure and make them understand that this is humanitarian aid," said Milagro Gonzalez, a 33-year-old Venezuela resident in Curacao, at Saturday's gathering.

"Politics aside, the idea is for this cargo to reach the people who need it."

Some 50 countries have recognized Guaido, leader of the state legislature, as the acting president of Venezuela.

They accuse Maduro of stealing last year's election and blame his policies for dire shortages of food and medicine and for hyperinflation.

Maduro blames US sanctions and financial speculation for Venezuela's economic woes.

He regularly accuses Venezuelans based in the United States and elsewhere abroad of plotting against him.

Aid on the 'Seven Seas'

The Venezuelans were aiming to load containers with 50 tons of food and medicine onto the Seven Seas, a Curacao-based, Panama-flagged supply vessel with a Venezuelan captain.

The lead organizer of the shipment, Miguel Rodriguez, said it would be joined at Bonaire by another boat carrying aid and the two would head for Venezuela, accompanied by smaller boats sailed by sympathizers.

"We have no storms coming or anything," he said, waiting at the port for the ship to load.

"The storm is in Venezuela right now. And it should clear soon."

3 slides

One of the red trucks waiting at a port in the Caribbean island of Curacao to take much-needed aid to Venezuela AFP

Supporters of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who has called a humanitarian aid effort part of a US-led plot to unseat him, showed their support in Caracas on February 23, 2019 AFP

Supporters of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido held flags and signs backing the humanitarian aid effort at the port in Willemstad, Curaca o on February 23, 2019 AFP

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Pulse News Agency International by AFP

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