Venezuelan Nicolas Maduro said that his government would break ties with Colombia because of its support the aid convoys and gave Colombian diplomats a day to leave the country.

Juan Guaido, the National Assembly leader who declared himself President a few weeks ago, had been with the aid convoy as it left the Colombian city of Cucuta; the trucks not fired on returned to warehouses in that city.

The confrontation that resulted in the burning of trucks carrying aid took place on the Francisco de Paula Santander bridge, which links Colombia and Venezuela. Some protesters got some of the aid off the burning trucks.

The trucks that were burned or resisted were full of humanitarian aid were from the United States, which has formally recognized Guaido as the rightful leader of Venezuela. Two other trucks, filled with humanitarian aid from Brazil, were allowed in to Venezuela, crossing the border between those two countries at Pacaraima.

Aid deliveries had arrived by sea as well. Two ships full of humanitarian aid were parked in Curacao, in nearby Netherlands Antilles, after a threat from the Venezuelans navy.

International officials said that a growing number of Venezuelans were suffering from malnutrition and diseases and that the convoys would have provided much-needed relief to aid efforts already several taxed. The country has been in the grip of an economic crisis for many months, and refugees have streamed out of the country in recent weeks.

In two other border towns, San Antonio and Urena, troops fired tear gas and rubber bullets at people waving Venezuelan flags and chanting "freedom," in opposition to Maduro's government. Nearly 300 people were hurt.

U.S. Vice President met with Guaido in Colombia and announced $56 million in aid to Venezuela, along with new sanctions against Maduro's government.

The South American country has been mired in a severe economic slump for quite awhile now, in part because of tight economic restrictions imposed by the U.S.; and refugees have fled the country in the tens of thousands. Shortages of food and medicine have resulted in widespread protests for many months.

The president, Nicolas Maduro, was recently re-elected, in an election boycotted by opposition political parties. His government in recent years created a new super-body, the National Constituent Assembly, to trump the opposition-dominated National Assembly, the leader of which, Juan Guaido, recently declared himself president, invoking a gray area in the country's constitution.