The Economic War on Venezuela | Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela |Axisoflogic.com

These were the sanctions imposed on Venezuela in 2018 and the consequences suffered by the Venezuelan population

The year 2018 was marked by the scars that have been left on the Venezuelan people by the economic sanctions and financial blockade imposed on the country by the government of the United States and some European Union nations.

These have caused the loss of billions of dollars, as the Vice President Delcy Rodríguez reported at the beginning of December,

"The people of Venezuela have to know that the financial sanctions imposed on the nation have cost us billions of dollars, but we continue to work for the welfare of all Venezuelans," stated the Vice President.

At the same time a Member of the Constituent Assembly, Hermann Escarra, considered that these measures are a "direct attack to the Venezuelan State, its democratic structure and its governance."

Sanctions
In January the European Union (EU) imposed restrictive measures against seven high Venezuelan officials: the Member of the Constituent Assembly, Diosdado Cabello; the President of the National Electoral Council, Tibisay Lucena; the Attorney General, Tarek William Saab; the Minister of the Interior, Néstor Reverol; the President of the Supreme Court of Justice, Maikel Moreno; the then director of the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (SEBIN), Gustavo González López; and the former Commander of the Bolivarian National Guard, Antonio Benavides.

The government rejected this decision by the EU and catalogued them of "unworthy", since "they violated the fundamental precepts of the Charter of the United Nations and seek to exercise gross interference in the internal affairs of our country."

On 4 March the President of the United States, Donald Trump, issued a new Executive Order that extended for another year the national emergency declaring our country as an "unusual and extraordinary threat" against the national security of the US.

Fifteen days later, Trump himself put his signature to a new Executive Order that prohibited any type of transaction with the crypto currency issued by the Venezuelan government.

This decree came a day before the sale of the first Venezuelan digital currency, the Petro, which was created by President Nicolas Maduro to overcome the effects of the blockade imposed by the Americans to our country.

On the 28th of the same month, Switzerland imposed sanctions on Venezuela which included the prohibition of sale, export, and transit of military equipment as "likely to be used for repressive purposes." It also includes equipment and technology used for surveillance and interception of telephone communications or internet.

At the end of May, Canada applied new unilateral sanctions on 14 officials, including the “First Combatant” and Maduro’s wife Cilia Flores, the First Vice President of the National Constituent Assembly (ANC), Tania Díaz, as well as the Mayor of Caracas, Erika Farias.

The US government returned to the attack one day after the presidential elections held on 20 May when President Nicolas Maduro was re-elected with 68% of the votes cast. This time a further Executive Order was signed which prohibits the national executive from selling debt and public assets in the United States.

The US also sanctioned the Member of the Constituent Assembly, Diosdado Cabello, his brother, José David Cabello and the latter’s spouse and Minister of Tourism Marleny Contreras.

On 1 November the US “top dog” went back on the attack against the Venezuelan people. This time the announcement was made by the National Security Adviser, John Bolton, who announced sanctions on the Venezuelan gold sector by prohibiting the sale and export of gold from Venezuela.

Against the health of the nation
Health has been one of the sectors most affected by the measures taken by the US authorities. For example, in May the then Minister of Health, Luis López, reported that transnational companies blocked "a transaction of seven million dollars were being allocated by President Nicolas Maduro for dialysis patients which would have guaranteed their treatment in Venezuela.

Previously, the President himself reported that the Euroclear system sequestered 1.2 billion Euros that would have been used to buy food and medicine.

In an interview at the end of last year by journalist Clodovaldo Hernández, for his program face to face in LaIguanaTV with the director of the University Hospital Clinic in Caracas, Fernando Alvarado who explained the aftermath that had been left by the blockade and had prejudiced patients in this hospital.

The blockade has been the cause of death of many patients? asked Hernandez.

“Of course it has!” Alvarado said. “All those who suffer chronic diseases are at risk: people with blood pressure, diabetics, kidney patients, people with cancer. We are extremely concerned. You have to be at the hospital to realize the drama of someone who comes with one of these diseases, and there is no way to treat them because a country forbade selling us drugs. I repeat yet again: we do not want them to give us drugs free of charge. We want them to sell them to us and we have money to buy them. Sell us these medicines because the patient is not at fault!”

Original URL

© Translation copyright 2019 by AxisofLogic.com

This material is available for republication as long as reprints include verbatim copy of the article in its entirety, respecting its integrity. Reprints must cite the author and Axis of Logic as the original source including a "live link" to the article. Thank you!