The Netherlands will set up a hub for humanitarian aid for Venezuela in the Caribbean island of Curacao, off the coast of the troubled South American country, the government said.
Dutch authorities would work with the United States and Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido on the measure, Foreign Minister Stef Blok tweeted late Wednesday.
The Venezuelan opposition and western nations have been demanding that President Nicolas Maduro allows in US aid shipments to the oil-rich country, whose economy is in meltdown.
"The Venezuelan people need humanitarian aid," Blok said on Twitter.
"Therefore, the Netherlands and Curacao have decided to facilitate a humanitarian aid hub in Curacao, in close cooperation with Venezuelan interim-president Guaido and the United States."
The Netherlands is one of around 50 countries that have recognised Guaido as interim president.
Blok did not say when the hub would start operating, saying in a letter to parliament that "the exact modalities will be further elaborated".
White House National Security Advisor John Bolton said the Dutch decision to open the hub would "benefit the people of Venezuela", and also welcomed a one-million-euro ($1.1-million) aid donation to the Red Cross announced by the Netherlands earlier in the week.
At a huge opposition rally on Tuesday, Guaido vowed that humanitarian aid would enter the country on February 23.
US aid sitting on the Colombian side of the border with Venezuela has become the latest flashpoint in a US-led push to topple Maduro, whose socialist government is bolstered by the military and backed by Russia and China.
Maduro accuses the United States of using the blocked aid shipments as pretext for an invasion.
The Netherlands will set up a hub for humanitarian aid for Venezuela in the Caribbean island of Curacao, off the coast of the troubled South American country, the government said.
Dutch authorities would work with the United States and Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido on the measure, Foreign Minister Stef Blok tweeted late Wednesday.
The Venezuelan opposition and western nations have been demanding that President Nicolas Maduro allows in US aid shipments to the oil-rich country, whose economy is in meltdown.
“The Venezuelan people need humanitarian aid,” Blok said on Twitter.
“Therefore, the Netherlands and Curacao have decided to facilitate a humanitarian aid hub in Curacao, in close cooperation with Venezuelan interim-president Guaido and the United States.”
The Netherlands is one of around 50 countries that have recognised Guaido as interim president.
Blok did not say when the hub would start operating, saying in a letter to parliament that “the exact modalities will be further elaborated”.
White House National Security Advisor John Bolton said the Dutch decision to open the hub would “benefit the people of Venezuela”, and also welcomed a one-million-euro ($1.1-million) aid donation to the Red Cross announced by the Netherlands earlier in the week.
At a huge opposition rally on Tuesday, Guaido vowed that humanitarian aid would enter the country on February 23.
US aid sitting on the Colombian side of the border with Venezuela has become the latest flashpoint in a US-led push to topple Maduro, whose socialist government is bolstered by the military and backed by Russia and China.
Maduro accuses the United States of using the blocked aid shipments as pretext for an invasion.
