A bus with lawmakers from the Venezuelan opposition-led National Assembly that was headed for the Colombian border from Caracas as part of a bus caravan to welcome humanitarian aid for the country has been stoned on its way through the country's northwestern Portuguesa State, the legislature said on Friday, adding that the driver had been gravely injured
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd February, 2019) A bus with lawmakers from the Venezuelan opposition-led National Assembly that was headed for the Colombian border from Caracas as part of a bus caravan to welcome humanitarian aid for the country has been stoned on its way through the country's northwestern Portuguesa State, the legislature said on Friday, adding that the driver had been gravely injured.
On Thursday, media reported that the Venezuelan National Guard had tried to block the buses from reaching San Cristobal, situated some 37 miles to the southeast of the Colombian border city of Cucuta, one of the hubs where humanitarian aid for Venezuela is being collected. The officers reportedly used tear gas and fired buckshot, but the caravan managed to break though the cordon.
"The caravan of parliamentarians heading for the city of San Cristobal [in] the state of Tachira, was attacked with two blunt objects in the city of Guanare, Portuguesa State, one of [the stones] has gravely injured the driver of the group," the National Assembly said via its official Twitter feed.
Several photos have been attached to the post as well, depicting a hole in the windshield of the bus, a large stone-like object inside the vehicle and what appears to be a pool of blood on the bus floor.
Lawmaker Mariela Magallanes, who was in the vehicle at the time of the attack, tweeted that the bus driver had been taken to a hospital.
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself acting president in late January, has welcomed the delivery of aid to Venezuela, citing the acute humanitarian crisis in the country. According to the opposition, the assistance will enter the country on Saturday.
President Nicolas Maduro, in turn, has categorically refused to accept aid that the United States has delivered to Cucuta, accusing Washington of trying to organize a coup in the country through Guaido and using humanitarian aid as one of the means to overthrow his government.
On Thursday, Maduro announced the complete closure of the land border with Brazil, where another aid hub is located. The president has not ruled out the possibility that the border with Colombia might be closed as well.
Prior to this, Venezuelan authorities also warned that the country would close its borders with a group of neighboring islands, including Curacao, another location where humanitarian aid for Venezuela is being collected.�
