The United States said Friday it has sent more than six tons of medical supplies to Venezuela to help stabilize the country, a month after the ouster of Nicolas Maduro in a US special forces raid.
The shipment of 25 pallets -- more than 6,000 kilograms -- of priority medical supplies to the Venezuelan people is part of a plan for the country's "stabilization, recovery and transition," the State Department said in a statement.
Venezuela has the world's largest proven reserves of oil, but output has fallen sharply during the past two decades of socialist rule, and the country's economy and social services, including its public health system, are in tatters.
The State Department said that Venezuela's interim health ministry will distribute the US-donated medications nationwide to those "who require urgent medical care."
It said this was "the first shipment of a significant effort to surge critical medical supplies to Venezuela."
"Stabilizing the health system will attract responsible private sector investment and help Venezuela move toward greater self-sufficiency -- consistent with our approach of promoting trade, not aid," the statement said, describing it as "America First Foreign Assistance in action."
The announcement came as US President Donald Trump said Friday he planned to visit Venezuela and reiterated satisfaction with interim leader Delcy Rodriguez, as his administration authorized five major oil companies to operate in the country.
Since Maduro was taken into custody and brought to the United States to face criminal charges, Trump has thrown his backing behind Rodriguez, who was Maduro's deputy.
She has begun freeing political prisoners and taken steps to open up Venezuela's oil industry -- paving the way for the return of US energy companies, a key Trump demand.