More than 60 countries on Tuesday pledged some $3.4 billion in emergency aid for five million Venezuelans who have fled the country to neighbouring South American nations to escape economic collapse under President Nicolas Maduro.
Venezuela's unravelling is one of the world's worst humanitarian crises and has been worsened by the coronavirus pandemic as healthcare and water supplies are out of reach of many people.
"The plight of Venezuelan refugees and migrants has worsened even further," U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi told a pledging conference organised by Canada, Spain, Norway, the European Union and the United Nations, held by videolink and broadcast on YouTube. Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez said there were $2.79 billion in total contributions by governments and development banks, and $653 million in donations.Venezuela, in meltdown despite having the world's largest proven oil reserves, has 1,177 confirmed cases of Covid-19, although U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said the real number was surely higher because of a lack of testing, urban overcrowding and the Maduro regime's harassment of doctors and reporters.
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