Venezuela: Guerra de Nervios 3 February Update

3 February 

This tweet by a deputy of the National Assembly gives the first indication of how the humanitarian aide will be used in this struggle. 

"Thanks to the support of President Iván Duque; Venezuelan private companies in Colombia; and the Government of the USA: we announce that this weekend begins the first of three shipments of humanitarian aid to Venezuela to the collection center of Cúcuta".

Run an DuckDuckGo search "Venezuelan refugees Cucuta Columbia" and you'll find news accounts from 2017 reporting on refugee flows in this border city.

I was wondering if the US was going to conduct a provocative "reverse Cuban blockade" and instead of quarantining Venezuela, send aid shipments directly to Venezuela ports and dare the Maduro government to confiscate it or block it.

Earlier today Juan Guaido posted on his government's short term strategy:

"Attention to the Next Actions"

1. Create a national and international coalition for humanitarian aide, with three distribution centers.
2. We will mobilize to convince the FAN to permit the entry of humanitarian aid.
3. We will ask Europe to protect our activities. 

Minor detail but Guaido referred to the armed forces with the acronym FAN - Fuerzas Armas Nacionales and not by the current FANB - Fuerzas Armadas Bolivarianas Nacionales.

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This update bought to you by the Battle of the Bulge series of blog posts.  Expect new Bulge posts highlighting the action on the morning of 16 December in the 18th VG Division's sector.