Brazil seeking funds for Venezuelan migrant program after Trump freezes US aid

By Ricardo Brito and Lisandra Paraguassu

BRASILIA (Reuters) - The Brazilian government on Wednesday said it is scrambling to fund a joint operation with United Nations agencies to resettle Venezuelan migrants in Brazil after President Donald Trump imposed a sweeping freeze on U.S. foreign aid.

Brazil's "Operacao Acolhida," or Operation Welcome, offers humanitarian aid to some 15,000 Venezuelans crossing monthly into the state of Roraima before offering them work and housing around the country, reducing onward migration to North America.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and International Organization for Migration (IOM), key partners in the Brazilian operation, had both relied on substantial U.S. funding.

"Since the United States stopped providing funds to the (IOM), Operation Welcome suffered a huge setback and we initially considered suspending the operations. But we are going to seek resources," Brazilian Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski told journalists in Brasilia.

"We do not yet have the resources defined or the necessary personnel, but all the ministries involved ... are going to do everything possible to receive the Venezuelans with dignity, as Brazil does with all those who come to our country to seek a better life," he added, declining to estimate the size of the funding gap.

Asked about potential cuts, the UNHCR office in Brazil said it would have to "make some exceptions regarding the allocation of funds to humanitarian assistance programs."

The UNIOM office in Brazil said on Monday it was analyzing the impact of the suspended US funding and it has a long history of collaboration with a range of member states. A press representative declined to answer additional questions.

The Brazilian arm of Catholic charity Caritas, which provides food relief for Venezuelan migrants as part of Operation Welcome, said that work is financed entirely by the U.S. State Department. It said as of Wednesday it had not received any signal to halt its role in the operation.

(Reporting by Ricardo Brito and Lisandra Paraguassu; Writing by Brad Haynes; Editing by Alistair Bell)