Rome, Jul 31 (IANS/AKI): Italy has sent 45 tonnes of aid, including medical supplies, to crisis-hit Venezuela, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Italian government flight left for Caracas from the United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot in the southern Italian city of Brindisi, the statement said, adding Deputy Foreign Minister Emanuela Del Re was present on the occasion.

The emergency supplies will be distributed in Venezuela by the International Red Cross and the Red Crescent in conjunction with the Venezuelan Red Cross, according to the statement.

Oil-rich Venezuela has faced chronic shortages of food and medicine as a result of a years-long political and economic crisis, and a large number of people say they do not have access to enough food.

Italy is a member of a European Union led contact group set up in January as part of diplomatic efforts to end the crisis in Venezuela.

There are over 140,000 Italians living in Venezuela with more than a million citizens of full or partial Italian descent, according to Venezuela's government.