CARACAS: Venezuela has expelled five visiting European lawmakers, an act opposition leader Juan Guaido branded 鈥渋rrational鈥� as his showdown with President Nicolas Maduro over the arrival of international aid intensifies.
The members of the European Parliament were being tossed out with no explanation, said Spanish MEP Esteban Gonzalez Pons, who led the group.
鈥淲e are being expelled from Venezuela. Our passports have been seized. They have not informed us of the reason for the expulsion,鈥� Pons said.
The incident on Sunday is the latest point of tension between the international community and Maduro, who is in the grip of a power struggle with Guaido, the head of the National Assembly who proclaimed himself interim president last month.
Guaido has the backing of more than 50 countries including 30 in Europe.
Pons鈥� fellow Spaniards Jose Ignacio Salafranca and Gabriel Mato Adrover, as well as Esther de Lange of the Netherlands and Paulo Rangel of Portugal, were also expelled. All are members of the conservative European People鈥檚 Party (PPE).
Writing on Twitter, Guaido said the MEPs were being 鈥渄eported by an isolated and increasingly irrational regime.鈥�
Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said the Europeans had 鈥渃onspiratorial aims鈥� and were sent back from the country鈥檚 main Maiquetia airport.
Earlier Sunday, Guaido set a goal of enlisting a million volunteers within a week to confront a government blockade that has kept tons of humanitarian aid, most of it from the US, from flowing into the country where residents can鈥檛 get enough food and say they are dying because of a shortage of medicines.
Guaido has given next Saturday 鈥� one month to the day after he proclaimed himself acting president 鈥� as the date for a showdown with Maduro over the aid.
Food supplies, hygiene kits and nutritional supplements have been stockpiled near the Venezuelan border in Cucuta, Colombia.
Additional storage centers are supposed to open this week in Brazil and Curacao, a Dutch island off Venezuela鈥檚 northern Caribbean coast.
鈥淥ur principal task is to reach a million volunteers by February 23,鈥� Guaido said in a message to the 600,000 supporters who have signed up so far for the push to bring aid in.
Caravans of buses are being planned to carry volunteers to border entry points to meet and transport arriving cargo. Guaido has kept to himself how he plans to overcome the border barriers put up by the Venezuelan military, on Maduro鈥檚 orders.
Volunteer groups have begun meeting in 鈥渉umanitarian camps鈥� in several Venezuelan states to organize and prepare for the aid arrival.
They have started to identify the most vulnerable and have begun caring for the needy in accordance with Guaido鈥檚 promises.
Sometimes working under awnings or tents, doctors, nurses, dentists and pediatricians have attended to local residents who can receive donated medications.
Patients arrive with respiratory, skin or other ailments, and suffering from malnutrition.
An imploding economy has driven an estimated 2.3 million Venezuelans to migrate from the oil-rich country. Those who remain have been punished by hyperinflation that has put scarce food and medicine out of reach for many.
Andrea Hernandez, a physical therapy student whose mother is a pediatric nurse, is among those offering her help. Hernandez said her mother often 鈥渃ried from seeing her patients die from lack of medicine.鈥�
Yorger Maita, a helper from the aid group Rescate Venezuela, said that if foreign aid does not enter 鈥渙ther people will continue to die.鈥�
Maduro, who denies the existence of a humanitarian crisis, dismisses the opposition moves as a 鈥減olitical show鈥� and a cover for a US invasion.
US Senator Marco Rubio arrived Sunday in Cucuta for a first-hand look at the aid operations.
鈥淲hoever prevents the entry of humanitarian aid is condemned to spend the rest of their lives fleeing international justice, because that is an international crime,鈥� Rubio said in Spanish.
Three US military cargo planes delivered several dozen more tons of food assistance to Cucuta on Saturday.
Another US aircraft is due in Curacao from Miami on Tuesday, and a collection center for Brazilian aid will open Monday on the border, Guaido鈥檚 team said.
Venezuelans based in Miami held their own drive, putting together 1,000 crates of food to send to their homeland.
On Friday, Maduro instructed his army to prepare a 鈥渟pecial deployment plan鈥� for the 2,200-kilometer (1,370-mile) border with Colombia.
Guaido appealed for the military to let the aid pass.
Maduro has dismissed the humanitarian assistance as 鈥渃rumbs鈥� and 鈥渞otten and contaminated food鈥� while blaming shortages of food and medicine on US sanctions.