Venezuelans living in South Florida collected medical supplies Saturday to send back to their native country, which is in the throngs of a humanitarian and economic crisis.
Dozens of Venezuelans stopped by El Arepazo Original in Doral on Saturday to do their part.
"We're being oppressed and repressed, everything negative that is dictatorship has done to our country. so we're just here to tell them that they're not alone," Desiree Rostami. "That way here to support them."
Everything collected will go to the Green Cross- a group that provides treatment and care for protesters injured in Venezuela.
"They're behind the front lines," Yvette Figueroa said. "They're there to pick up the students and give them the first medical assistance to prevent them from dying."
Tear gas has wafted in the streets of Caracas as clashes have grown violent between protesters and the government militia backed by President Nicolas Maduro.
"Our students who are high school kids are basically asking for democracy and liberty," Figueroa said. "They walk the streets with a flag and a backpack and they're getting shot at. They're getting killed. Our future is being killed."
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Many have called for the release of political prisoners, like Leopoldo Lopez. Venezuelans who came out to contribute say they feel the pain of the country they were forced to leave behind.
"We are not in Venezuela, we are here in the United States thank god but we need to help," Gloria Mora. "We are far away but we are not absent."
These Venezuelans living in South Florida say this collection of first aid kits and medicine is one way the can help with the dire situation abroad. The organizers will be sending these items by air on Monday.
"Even though we had to come here and were immigrants in the U.S., we're still at heart with them," Rostami said.
