A protest was staged in the City of Calgary on Saturday in solidarity with similar action taking place in Venezuela as citizens continue to fight against what they call a dictatorship.

Dozens of people demonstrated inside Calgary City Hall to help raise awareness of the issues facing their home country and the desperate situation that many people who live there are experiencing.

“We are answering a call from our interim president Juan Guaido. He asked us to support Venezuelans in the country with humanitarian aid,” said organizer Josue Ramirez.

He says the gathering was a way to help get people together to open a dialogue about what could be done to help out in the situation.

“We are going to be doing a collection of some basic supplies, medical supplied in general so we can send these to Venezuela.”

Pedro Acosta, born in Venezuela, moved to Calgary 13 years ago to work in the oil and gas sector. He says it’s a “terrible crisis.”

“The presidents of three countries are now joining together on the border of Colombia just to watch how the humanitarian help goes into the country. You have to imagine the size of the crisis there.”

Acosta says he still has family back in the country and keeps on constant touch with them to make sure they are safe and well taken care of.

Ramirez says thousands of people are facing death because they don’t have access to vital medication.

“According to the United Nations, 83 percent of the key services in Venezuela are not working.”

He says a lot of people don’t know that families of Venezuelans who live abroad go to great lengths to help out those family members still in the country.

“We have to, every week, send money to Colombia to buy medicines and take those to Venezuela and try to reach our families.”

Acosta says that it’s a constitutional situation in Venezuela right now.

“It’s not a coup d’état, it’s not some guy self-proclaiming. It’s just a person who is following the Constitution of the United States who happens to be the Speaker of the House.”

Ramirez says it’s simple to help out.

“First, get to know what exactly is happening in Venezuela. What is happening in Venezuela is the most terrible crisis that any other nation can face in our history.”

There are approximately 10,000 Venezuelans living in Calgary.

On Saturday morning, violence broke out on the Colombian border as security forces, led by Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, tried to block humanitarian relief from getting into the country.

Several trucks carrying the supplies were set on fire, prompting people to push through clouds of tear gas to rescue what they could from the vehicles.

Two people were killed and 18 others were injured in another clash near the border of Brazil.

(With files from Brenna Rose and the Associated Press)