Newborn babies found sleeping in cardboard boxes as Venezuela economic crisis reaches new low

'Is this what the children deserve?'

(Twitter/@unidadvenezuela)

Newborn babies in Venezuela are being kept in cardboard boxes by cash-strapped hospitals due to the country's economic crisis, according to a photograph published by an opposition party.

The image, which shows infants lined up in makeshift cots, has caused outrage after they were posted online.

Each baby is wrapped in a blanket with what appears to be their medical notes taped to the front.

Unidad Venezuela, the party that released the photo, captioned it: “So the world knows; babies at the Dr Domingo Guzman Lander hospital placed in cardboard boxes due to a lack of incubators.”

It is understood the shot was taken by a member of hospital staff who wanted to remain anonymous.

Another image was posted by Venezuelan opposition politician Antonio Barreto Sira, captioned "Is this what the children deserve?"

The photos have not been verified, but Carlos Rotondaro, President of the Venezuelan Insitute of Social Security, responded to the claims: “Our hospitals take care of hundreds of patients, despite what some media are hiding.

“We recognise the failures and will continue.”

The country’s hospital system later took to social media to show the current state of the nursery, posting photos and a video of babies in incubators.

Venezuela, recently a flagship socialist nation rich on oil reserves, is in the depths of a severe financial crisis. The collapse in the price of oil has exposed years of economic mismanagement by the government.

Citizens are leaving their pets to starve due to lack of money and crossing the border to Colombia to find food.