Trump Says Looking Into Giving Venezuelans Asylum, Temporary Protected Status in US

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that his administration is looking into providing Venezuelans with asylum and temporary protected status that would allow them to stay in the United States amid the ongoing political and humanitarian crisis in their country.

"We are looking at that, and we are very much involved with the Venezuela crisis. It's a horrible thing, a horrible situation. ... We are looking at that very strongly," Trump told reporters on the White House lawn.

On the same day,  the South American country's Health Minister Carlos Alvarado said that almost 70 tonnes of humanitarian aid has arrived in Venezuela from China. 

"This technical humanitarian aid consists of 68 tonnes of medications," Alvarado said on Monday as quoted by the Globovision channel.

He also stressed that the aid, which was the fourth shipment so far, consisted of medicines and sanitary materials. According to Alvarado, Venezuela has received 465 tonnes of humanitarian aid in total from China, Russia, Red Cross and UNICEF.

In February, Russia sent its first batch of humanitarian aid to Venezuela via the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization's channels. The second shipment arrived in mid-April. On 7 June, Russian Foreign Ministry's Director of the Latin American Department Alexander Schetinin said Russia was cooperating with the United Nations to provide Venezuela with new humanitarian aid.

Venezuela has been suffering from a severe political crisis since late January when US-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido proclaimed himself an interim leader in a bid to oust incumbent President Nicolas Maduro from power. The political crisis was aggravated by the economic one that worsened as the United States imposed several rounds of sanctions against Venezuela.

Maduro has accused Washington of working with Guaido in order to orchestrate a coup and to take control of Venezuela’s resources. China, Bolivia, Russia, Turkey and numerous other countries have voiced their support for Maduro as Venezuela's only legitimate president.