Today, Vice President Pence announced that the United States is providing nearly $56 million in additional humanitarian assistance to support the regional response for the nearly 3.4 million Venezuelans who have fled Venezuela due to the political and economic crisis caused by Nicolas Maduro. This assistance complements the aid that the United States and its partners pre-positioned near the Colombia- and Brazil-Venezuela borders over the last few weeks, and it will provide urgently needed shelter, food, medical services, and livelihoods support that will help the integration of Venezuelans who have fled into host communities in the region.

The United States will continue to pursue all avenues to increase humanitarian assistance to Venezuelans both inside and outside Venezuela. We support the courageous efforts and leadership of Interim President Guaido, National Assembly members, citizens, and partners in the region to deliver humanitarian assistance immediately to those in need inside Venezuela, and we will continue to work with them towards that goal. Now is the time to strengthen our commitment to the brave Venezuelan people.

With this new funding, since Fiscal Year 2017, the United States has provided more than $195 million, including more than $152 million in humanitarian assistance and approximately $43 million in development and economic assistance, since Fiscal Year 2017 to provide life-saving aid and critical basic services to Venezuelans and affected communities and to build the long-term capacity to assist those who have fled repression and chaos in Venezuela.

In addition, as announced by Secretary Pompeo on January 24, the United States is ready to provide more than $20 million in additional funding to support humanitarian assistance activities in Venezuela. This additional funding is going, in part, to the procurement of the humanitarian supplies pre-positioned on the Colombia- and Brazil-Venezuela borders.

We continue to applaud the contributions of the governments and communities in Latin America and the Caribbean that are generously hosting Venezuelan refugees and migrants and permitting the pre-positioning of humanitarian assistance during this time of crisis. We call on other donors to join us in meeting the growing needs in Venezuela and the region.