Venezuela will donate US$5 million to Harvey victims despite economic crisis.
Citgo, a U.S.-based unit of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, will cooperate with local Houston authorities to distribute the resources, Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said on state television; Venezuela's socialist government has previously provided subsidized heating oil to poor Americans and sent aid to victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Reuters - Venezuela has offered US$5 million to victims of Hurricane Harvey, which is ravaging the US state of Texas, despite the major economic crisis in the South American country, which is leaving millions of people without food and medicine.
Citgo, a U.S.-based unit of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, will cooperate with local authorities in Houston to distribute the funds, Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said on state television.
The socialist government of Venezuela has provided subsidized heating oil to poor Americans in the past and sent aid to victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Already tense relations between Caracas and the US soured this year, and Washington imposed several sanctions against the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
US President Donald Trump even suggested that military intervention could be considered, although US officials quickly dismissed the idea.
Venezuela is going through its fourth year of a brutal recession, and has been shaken by political turmoil and mass street protests against Maduro.
Harvey, now downgraded to a tropical storm, slammed into eastern Texas and Louisiana on Wednesday, bringing the kind of catastrophic rainfall that paralyzed the Houston oil hub with record-breaking precipitation and forced tens of thousands of people from their homes.