A currency exchange website appeared Friday to have been blocked in Venezuela as the online platform prepared to launch a U.S.-backed plan to provide assistance to underpaid health workers battling the coronavirus in the South American country. Opposition leader Juan Guaidó had announced Thursday that starting Monday he would begin registering the 62,000 “Health Heroes” who are to soon receive $100 monthly bonuses in digital wallets provided by Mexico City-based Airtm. By Joshua Goodman and Scott Smith. Full Text-> ABC news

On April 16, the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a Fact Sheet ​highlighting the most relevant exemptions, exceptions, and authorizations for humanitarian assistance and trade under the Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, Syria, Cuba, and Ukraine/Russia-related​ sanctions programs.  Full text -> DoT/OFAC Resource Center

Venezuela: Having headed off a civil-military uprising in April 2019, President Nicolás Maduro’s government weathered a regional boycott and a stack of US sanctions. But his government remains isolated and bereft of resources, while seven million Venezuelans are in need of humanitarian aid and public services are collapsing. Full text -> Munich Security Report 2020

Situation in Numbers

• 3,200,000 children in need of humanitarian assistance (OCHA August 2019)
• 7,000,000 people in need (OCHA August 2019)
• 4,769,000 Migrants and refugees from Venezuela worldwide (Regional Inter-Agency Coordination Platform, January 2020
• Report from UN Children’s Fund. Full text-> UNICEF Venezuela