Venezuela to Close Border With Brazil, May Do the Same With Colombia - Maduro

17:06 GMT, 21 February 2019

Earlier in the day, an ally of Venezuelan opposition leader and self-proclaimed president Juan Guaido said as quoted by Reuters that the opposition head would personally accompany a humanitarian aid convoy that arrived from the US in the Colombian border town of Cucuta last week.

Sputnik

According to Deputy Russian Envoy to the United Nations Dmitry Polyansky, the US is preparing an "outrageous" provocation on the border between Colombia and Venezuela.

The statement comes moments after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said during televised comments that Venezuela would close the border with Brazil and was considering closing the border with Colombia.

"From February 21, the land border with Brazil will be completely closed until the new announcement," Maduro said in a speech.

According to the president, the humanitarian aid that is being kept in the Colombian town of Cucuta was a "provocation".

Earlier in the day, Mark Green, the administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), said as quoted by FOX News that the US "must open the humanitarian channel, no matter what."

Venezuela Doesn't Need to Ask Russia For Military Assistance - Caracas

21 February 2019, 16:31 GMT

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has warned that the US and its allies were using "the pretext of delivering humanitarian aid" to try to "destroy the independence and sovereignty of the country." Caracas would not allow such aid into the country, Maduro said, saying the country was coping with its difficulties and that US 'concerns' over Venezuela's humanitarian crisis were "fabricated by Washington over the last four years to justify intervening in our country."

Besides closing the border with Brazil, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said the day before that the Latin American country would close the border with neighboring island nations, suspend air traffic and revise their diplomatic ties.