CNA Staff, Feb 18, 2021 / 20:00 pm
A Lenten campaign launched by Caritas Venezuela is raising money to help poor and vulnerable people in the country buy lifesaving medication.
On February 17, Cáritas Venezuela, the charitable organization of the Venezuelan Bishops’ Conference, announced the start of the “2021 Sharing Campaign: Medicines to save lives.” The initiative is in its 41st year and seeks to “strengthen diocesan and parish medicine banks” to care for the health and lives of the most needy Venezuelans.
Cáritas noted that 9 out of 10 people in Venezuela are living in poverty, with limited access to basic services such as food, water, health care, and electricity.
For years, Venezuela has been marred by violence and social upheaval under the socialist administration of Nicolas Maduro, with severe shortages of food and medicine, high unemployment, power outages, and hyperinflation. Some 4.5 million Venezuelans have emigrated since 2015.