Last week, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) released its 2020 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for Venezuela. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) applauds this comprehensive new plan, which lays out the severity of humanitarian needs in Venezuela and outlines what is needed to respond.

Seven million people in Venezuela urgently need humanitarian assistance because of the economic mismanagement and corruption of the illegitimate Maduro regime. COVID-19 is exacerbating the already-fragile situation.

The HRP--which calls for $762.5 million from international donors to respond effectively to the needs of the oppressed Venezuelan people--is an important step in strengthening and expanding on the humanitarian response that is already ongoing inside the country. It also documents the numerous operational challenges for humanitarian organizations on the ground, as many Venezuelans are facing increased vulnerabilities and the regime is taking advantage of the pandemic to increase its repression.

The United States is coordinating with the United Nations, our non-governmental partners, and other international donors to determine ways we can continue to provide assistance safely in Venezuela through independent humanitarian organizations. The Maduro regime has made it extremely difficult for international non-governmental groups to register in Venezuela legally, and for foreign humanitarian workers to receive visas. These bureaucratic constraints, coupled with ongoing logistical impediments and security concerns, makes it difficult for humanitarian organizations to respond at a scale commensurate with the needs created by this man-made crisis. USAID and the rest of the U.S. Government insist that the Maduro regime provide full and open access to humanitarian organizations to allow them to deliver impartial, transparent, and timely aid to those most in need.

The United States continues to provide humanitarian assistance both inside Venezuela and to Venezuelan migrants and refugees elsewhere in Latin America and the Caribbean who have fled the chaos and repression in their homeland. The regional aid includes USAID's funding to stem the spread of infectious diseases, provide hot meals to vulnerable families, ensure access to safe drinking water, and meet other urgent humanitarian needs, such as responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. Government's assistance to Venezuelans inside and outside their country now totals $856 million.

The American people will continue to support Venezuelans during the humanitarian and economic crisis caused by Maduro and the rapacious activities of members of his illegitimate regime. The United States urges other nations to continue to do the same.