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MONTREAL — Venezuelan-Canadians who are scrambling to help their family and friends are asking Canadians to take notice of the escalating political and humanitarian crisis in their homeland.

Alessandra Polga, the human rights director for the Canadian-Venezuelan Engagement Foundation, says few Canadians seem to realize Venezuelans are dying from food and medicine shortages as President Nicolas Maduro gradually moves to consolidate power amid a growing political crisis.

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“My country is alone, my people are dying of starvation, of chronic diseases,” she said in a phone interview.

Photo by Ariana Cubillos/AP

“You can’t even find a Band-Aid in a hospital. The government is shooting and killing people, there are over 600 political prisoners right now.”

On Saturday, a newly installed constitutional assembly ousted Venezuela’s defiant chief prosecutor, a sign that President Nicolas Maduro’s embattled government intends to move swiftly against critics and strengthen his grip on power.