The United Nations announced Monday it has approved $9.2 million in aid for Venezuela in an effort to help the country's struggling citizens.
Funding from the U.N.'s Central Emergency Response Fund will go toward providing food, medicine and other help to Venezuelans as the country's economic woes continue. This marks the first time Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has allowed this kind of emergency aid from the U.N.
Venezuela has been in an economic depression for at least half a decade, adding to hyperinflation and mass food shortages. Millions of citizens have left Venezuela to find more opportunity in other Latin American countries. Maduro says U.S. sanctions are to blame for his country's problems, as well as an "economic war" waged by the business elite and political adversaries.
