Pence tours Navy hospital ship heading to Latin America

Vice President Mike Pence, right, shakes hands with Carlos Vecchio, ambassador to Washington for Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, left, following a tour on the USNS Comfort, Tuesday, June 18, 2019, in Miami. The hospital ship is scheduled to embark on a five-month medical assistance mission to Latin America and the Caribbean, including several countries struggling to absorb migrants from crisis-wracked Venezuela. At center is Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

MIAMI — Vice-President Mike Pence has toured a U.S. Navy hospital ship launching a five-month medical assistance mission to Latin American countries struggling to absorb hundreds of thousands of migrants from crisis-wracked Venezuela.

The ship departing Miami on Tuesday will aim to help Venezuelans in countries including Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic. It will also make stops in Haiti, Jamaica and several other Caribbean nations.

Pence criticized embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and said the Trump administration and its regional partners will continue to aid Venezuelan migrants fleeing the country’s political and economic crisis.

The United Nations says the exodus of Venezuelans in recent years is the largest in Latin American history. Their number is expected to reach 5.3 million by the end of 2019.

Ellis Rua, The Associated Press