US airstrike destroys dialysis supplies in Venezuela’s La Guaira

US forces have bombed a medical supplies distribution center in Venezuela’s La Guaira state, destroying a warehouse of life-saving materials for dialysis patients and putting at least 9,000 kidney patients at immediate risk.

During its January 3 military aggression on Venezuela that led to the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, the United States struck a medical supplies distribution center in La Guaira port, obliterating warehouses belonging to the Venezuelan Social Security Institute (IVSS).

According to Venezuelan authorities, the destroyed facility stored supplies for a national nephrology program serving patients undergoing hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis.

The IVSS said the attack wiped out essential materials destined for renal patients in the country's main port and condemned the “terrorist character of the US government” for targeting healthcare infrastructure.

Local health officials warned that the destruction directly affects at least 9,000 kidney patients, many of whom depend on uninterrupted dialysis to survive.

“The US bombed a medical supplies distribution center in La Guaira during its terror attack on Venezuela, destroying a warehouse which stored supplies for a nephrology program for patients undergoing hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis, affecting at least 9,000 kidney patients,” said Camila Escalante, a Press TV correspondent in Latin America, in a post on X on Wednesday.

Escalante attached some footage of the destroyed warehouse.

According to Nelare Bermudez from La Guaira state’s healthcare authority, three months’ worth of medicines for renal patients were lost in the bombing, though she pledged that authorities would work to prevent disruptions in care.

Venezuela has an estimated 16,000 people suffering from chronic kidney disease. Officials warned that the US attack has compounded an already dire situation.

The loss of critical medical supplies comes on top of years of damage inflicted by US sanctions, which have restricted Venezuela’s ability to import medicines and medical equipment due to prohibitions, delays, and inflated costs.

A 2018 CEPR report found that 300,000 Venezuelans with heart and other serious conditions were placed at risk by US economic coercive measures. During the Covid-19 pandemic, sanctions also caused delays in vaccine procurement, deepening the South American country’s public health crisis.

In response to the bombing, the Brazilian government announced on Tuesday that it would send medical equipment and medicines to Venezuela.

Brazilian Health Minister Alexandre Padilha said his country was mobilizing dialysis supplies “after this distribution center was targeted,” citing humanitarian and regional health concerns, and recalled Venezuela’s shipment of oxygen to Manaus during Brazil’s 2021 coronavirus crisis.

The announcement followed Brasília’s strong condemnation of the US strikes, which have reportedly killed 80 people in Venezuela, as well as Washington’s broader campaign of military pressure and regime-change threats against Caracas.

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