The US Navy is sending a hospital ship to Colombia on a mission to assist in the humanitarian crisis in neighboring Venezuela, a defense official said Tuesday.

The USNS Comfort hospital ship "will return to South America this fall," Pentagon spokeswoman Commander Sarah Higgins said.

"We are working the details in close coordination with our Colombian partners."

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, while on a trip to South America last week, said the deployment is "an effort to deal with the human cost of (Venezuelan President Nicolas) Maduro, and his increasingly isolated regime."

"This is a very specific effort to try to help our neighbors, who are doing their best, I think, to help these refugees," he added.

According to Pentagon spokesman Colonel Rob Manning, the hospital ship will provide life-saving treatment and medical care to thousands of people.

"Our service members and medical professionals, doctors and nurses, will work alongside regional partners to support ongoing humanitarian response efforts to include addressing the impact of the Venezuelan humanitarian crisis," he said.

The mission marks the sixth hospital ship deployment to the region since 2007.

The United Nations estimates that 2.3 million Venezuelans have fled an economic and political crisis looking for work and to escape poverty, and Colombia has given temporary residence to more than 800,000 Venezuelans.

Colombia protests Venezuelan border incursion
Bogota (AFP) Aug 21, 2018 –

Colombia issued a strong protest Tuesday over what it said was a border incursion by Venezuelan helicopters and troops over the weekend.

The government of President Ivan Duque said it sent a strongly-worded protest to the Venezuelan ambassador over what it claimed was a "violation of Colombia's sovereignty" in Norte Santander department on Sunday.

"Two helicopters, identified with the initials of the Bolivarian National Guard and about 30 armed personnel belonging to the Bolivarian National Armed Forces of Venezuela" landed in the border region of Tibu, the foreign ministry said.

The ministry said it sent a note "expressing the strongest protest" to the Venezuelan ambassador in Bogota.

The South American neighbors have locked horns in recent years over similar incidents along their 2,200-kilometer (1,370-mile) border crisscrossed by guerrillas and drug traffickers.

The most recent incident was in November last year and also involved the Tibu region.

Like his predecessor Juan Manuel Santos, Duque has branded Venezuela a "dictatorship" under President Nicolas Maduro.

Earlier this month, Maduro accused Santos of being behind an alleged attempt to assassinate him during a military parade in Caracas.

Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans fleeing the economic crisis in their home country have taken refuge in Colombia, which Maduro has also accused of sheltering his opponents.

Colombia urged Peru and Ecuador to coordinate their immigration policies to deal with an influx of Venezuelan migrants.