Taipei, Feb. 15 (CNA) Taiwan will donate US$500,000 to Venezuela to help the South American country that has plunged into political and humanitarian chaos restore democracy, stability and prosperity, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Friday.
Stanley Kao, Taiwan's representative to the United States, announced the donation on behalf of the government at the "Global Conference on the Humanitarian Crisis in Venezuela" sponsored by the Organization of American States in Washington Thursday, according to MOFA spokesman Andrew Lee.
Taiwan hopes to advance its cooperation with like-minded countries to provide humanitarian assistance to Venezuela and will encourage Taiwan-based non-governmental groups operating in Latin America to offer greater aid to that country, Kao said at the conference.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu posted on the MOFA website a tweet by Jesus M. Yanez M., a member of the National Assembly of Venezuela, in which Yanez thanked Taiwan for its donation.
In response, Wu tweeted: "We hope to help Venezuela re-institute its democracy, stability and prosperity, because the people of Venezuela deserve a better future."
A deep political, economic and humanitarian crisis has broken out in Venezuela after Juan Guaido, president of the National Assembly, in January declared himself as interim president of the country, and demanding that the unpopular sitting President Nicolas Maduro step down.
In a duel between the two, Maduro has refused, and Guaido has been recognized by around 50 countries, including the United States, as Venezuela's interim president.
