This question might be better asked on Politics.SE where they can discuss the reasons why it might be good policy for sanctions to outweigh aid.

From what I have read in the news the aid is listed at tons of food. At the same time the opposition in Venezuela burned down a storehouse with 50 tons of food scheduled for distribution.

@liftarn - That doesn't seem relevant. Assuming it's true (do you have a link?) the question is about the United States, not other groups.

50 ton warehouse sounds like this: venezuelanalysis.com/news/13214 (not really "at the same time"?) // But whether this is about tons of food, value of food or whatever metric: as posed this Q is decidedly not about politics, or any instrumentalisation from either side. Only why Maduro or Trump do what they do, or what they claim as motiviations, is politics, the effects can be measured. Although it's too recent an event to weed through all the lying and distortions that inevitably comes with it.

Personally what I would really like to see is a) an independent assessment of the impact of sections (the Maduro regime estimates $38 billion in total) and b) a corresponding estimate of the the impact that price controls, nationalizations, or other domestic policies have had on the price and availability of consumer products.

Here's another relevant data point: "the United States has provided more than $195 million", including more than $152 million in humanitarian assistance and approximately $43 million in development and economic assistance, since Fiscal Year 2017". Pretty small, compared to $38 billion, but that larger figure is also for a longer period of time.

Just wanted to throw out a facet to think about: measuring things in terms of "dollars" sometimes breaks down in situations like this. Between the hyperinflation of their currency, the difference in supply/rarity of food in our two countries, and, well, the fact that their citizens are outright starving - I don't know if there's a right dollar amount to assign for a pallet of corn.

@Kevin For the specific question being asked, dollars is the logical currency. Venezuela only produces something like 30% of the food it needs, and it is highly dependent on imports, paid for basically with oil exports which are denominated in dollars. To your point though, if the question were about the practical capacity for individuals to afford food, we would need to talk about wages and prices in bolívares rather than dollars.

@LangLangC And note that Venezuela has a big issue with distribution. The government is deliberately trying to starve the opposition.

@Kevin The people are starving and their national currency is in hyperinflation, yet the people still support the government and the opposition is divided. You should ask yourself why that is. Reality is nuanced and not as black and white as in socialism bad and capitalism good.

@dan-klasson - Socialism is not necessarily bad. A program of mass nationalization and elimination of self-sufficiency led by an authoritarian kleptocrat, on the other hand....

@LorenPechtel "The government is deliberately trying to starve the opposition". That comment just goes to show you have zero understanding what's going in Venezuela. The opposition is mostly middle class and they are definitely not starving. The staving people are the poor Venezuelans that overwhelmingly support the government. There are some exceptions of left-wing groups who are in opposition, but even though they are technically a part of the opposition they have a very hard time aligning themselves with certain parts of the opposition, like Guido.

@Obie2.0 I think we both can agree that's bad and also the Maduro admin is absolutely inept. But things are more nuanced than that. There's no real alternative for the people to rally around. The Venezuelan opposition is fractured. The self-appointed president has very little support, has been caught in photos with Colombian narco-traffickers. The unfortunate reality for most poor Venezuelans is that they view their current leaders as their best bet. Which speaks volumes for how bad things are down there.

@dan-klasson - It turns out that when you manipulate the system to eliminate all the better options, you seem like the best option. What a shocker. Next up: Trump has the Supreme Court appoint officials to manage the general elections and creates a new legislative body to draw up a new constitution that gives the President more power. Then this new legislature dissolves Congress. Trump declares that Joe Biden cannot run because of a technicality. Shockingly, he wins in a landslide.

@Obie2.0 Yeah or when you know you can't win the election. So you deliberately violate the election laws that were in place long before your political enemies came to power. So you can blame the government for being undemocratic. Then get the world to support your coup when you attempt to seize power through judicial or military means. Standard CIA operating procedures.

To give an idea of Maduro's "mandate of the people", in February some polls found him at 4%. Sputnik of all outlets was reporting that he had 15% approval (as good news, perhaps).

I cannot abide the apologists of dictators or wannabe dictators, be they Trumpians or chavistas. That you disparage your own government, one of the most democratic and least corrupt in the world, and make excuses for Maduro is very telling about the sorts of values you prioritize.

@Obie2.0 I'm not making excuses for the Maduro administration. I'm saying things are not black and white. There's a reason why the majority of the Venezuelans support their government. And it's not hard to fathom if you simply spend some time researching their history instead of swallowing mass media propaganda. And regarding your comment of 4% approval just goes to show that you're no skeptic. You are no better than Trump supporters with their alternative facts.

@dan-klasson - As for alternative facts, it must be nice to live in the fantasy world where a majority of Venezuelans support the government, and Maduro's incredible approval ratings are mere media fabrications. Where you can support a binary narrative of the evil US puppets versus the democratic if inept legitimate leader, instead of facing the hard truth that sometimes the enemy of your enemy...is just another enemy.

@Obie2.0 It's not a fantasy, it's reality. And judging from how fast you responded to that comment you did not take a second to think of what I said. You focused on one phrase "alternative facts". You clearly suffer from confirmation bias. You're a typical liberal who is not interested about facts or truth. You know this site is called Skeptics. You should stop hanging out here.

And if you want to determine who's more ideologically aligned with Trumpism...well, there's one of us who's saying that all the negative polls are fake news from the Lugenpresse, and one of us who...isn't. As far as the Trumpianism goes, you're also a Euroskeptic who disparages the libs...so yeah. Even your Maduro apologism is probably what Trump believes in his heart (Xi, Putin, Kim) if he didn't have to tar the Democrats as Communists to win.

@Obie2.0 Exactly. Typical liberal who views everything from the perspective of a black and white world. Either you're with Trump or you're against him. The truth doesn't matter. Some anonymous source says that Trump was informed that Russia put bounties on American soliders? Yeah, don't matter it's true, I'll just assume it is. As long as I can use it to attack Trump. The fact that the U.S government supplied weapons to Muslim terrorists in Afghanistan to kill Soviet soldiers? The fact that, that is extremely hypocritical doesn't bother me. And then you wonder why people vote for Trump.

Like I said...guy who ends a sentence with "you wonder why people vote for Trump." I rest my case about apologism for Maduro and apologism for Trump being linked. If only Trump were not the president of the US in particular, maybe you could be buddies.

And now where way off topic. But I get the feeling I'm wasting my time. It's like talking a Trump supporter. I might as well debate my wall.

You are a Trump supporter. You just either do not realize it, or, more likely, will not admit it.

@Obie2.0 You don't even read what I write. You pick one sentence and boom. Everything else you can dismiss. You and Trump supporters are exactly the same.

@Obie2.0 No, I'm not. But if you ask me if I rather see Biden or Trump elected, that's another question. It's a long story but to make it short I rather see Bernie as the next president.

I am very sorry, but you have all the characterististics of the standard Trump supporter, save the US-skeptic orientation. Blames Democratic hypocrisy for people voting for Trump? Check. Libertarian-ish political philosophy? Check. Disparages liberals? Check. Makes excuses for authoritarians? Check. Dislikes leaders of Europe? Check. Blames lying media for the low approval ratings of authoritarian leaders Whereas? Check. Whereas what I have in common is...a rigid worldview? Yes...we'll go with that.

And now...hahaha, basically admitting you would prefer Trump over Biden. Big check.

@Obie2.0 Yeah it's funny how we're the same species. I'm actually European and of course, you cannot fathom how I would be skeptical of a Biden administration. Let alone that the guy has dementia. I mean a rational person would ask themself, what would I choose between, a mentally unstable person or a complete retard. If anything it just goes to show how f-upped your country is. It's full of people like yourself and Trump voters. It's dumb and dumber. But it's not fiction. It's real life.

@Obie2.0 You should do as the Venezuelans. Protest by not voting.