Cucuta, Colombia, Feb 12, 2019 / 17:23 pm
The bishop of a Colombian diocese bordering Venezuela has said that "we can't be still" in face of the Venezuelan people's suffering, and noted that the Church has responded to the humanitarian crisis from its beginning.
Under the administration of Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela has been marred by violence and social upheaval, with severe shortages and hyperinflation leading millions of Venezuelans to emigrate.
Opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who declared himself interim president of Venezuela last month, has been recognized as Venezuelan president by the US, Canada, much of the European Union, and several Latin American nations.
In a statement to ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish language sister agency, Bishop Victor Manuel Ochoa Cadavid of Cúcuta said that when Maduro's government began deporting Colombians in August 2015, the Church in Cúcuta "began its services to the brothers experiencing hardship."