Venezuela VP says sanctions and war focus of US foreign policy
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Delcy Rodriguez explained that 28% of the world's population is currently sanctioned by the US covering over 72% of the planet.
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Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez speaks during a meeting with members of the new cabinet in June 2018. (AFP)
Venezuela's Vice President on Tuesday remarked that sanctions, "along with war," is the "central axis" of the United States' foreign strategy.
Delcy Rodriguez stated that the US' unilateral coercive steps are intended to compel Venezuela into changing its path of self-determination and autonomy, and that the sanctions constitute new neocolonial tactics.
She added that by using unilateral coercive tactics, the US wishes to "blackmail" Venezuela into changing its course of sovereignty and autonomy.
"Over 1,000 unilateral coercive measures, wrongly called 'sanctions', have been used to blackmail us and force us to change our course of independence and self-determination," Rodriguez explained, adding that Venezuela has been "punished for our defense of self-determination" in what she called a "new form of colonialism that seeks to seize our resources."
During the Caribbean Regional Seminar of the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization, which began Tuesday in Caracas, Delcy displayed graphs depicting the economic losses caused by penalties imposed on Venezuela from 2000 to 2022, throughout numerous US administrations the administrations of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and the current President Joe Biden.
These measures, she emphasized, are seeking to stop the advancement of new models of development and happiness proposed by peoples who refuse to bow to the hegemonic system,
In addition, she explained that the US relies on wars to maintain its supremacy and apply unfair sanctions.
Rodriguez explained that 28% of the world's population is currently sanctioned by the US covering over 72% of the planet.
Rodriguez and Hector Rodriguez, Miranda state governor led a march in Miranda declaring support for President Nicolas Maduro and condemning US sanctions against Venezuela.
"Today, the people of Petare took to the streets against the criminal blockade. We told Biden: Lift the blockade now!"
Maduro, they declared, would never "kneel before the Yankees," citing he confronted the empire because he acknowledged the Venezuelan people "Deserved respect."
Maduro says fresh US sanctions on Venezuela 'grave mistake'
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro described the United States' reimposition of sanctions on his country as a "grave mistake".
US officials recently announced that the Biden administration will reimpose sanctions on Venezuela, claiming that the Maduro government did not uphold "an inclusive and competitive election."
The United States "did not honor a single word of the agreement signed last October in Qatar," Maduro stressed during a meeting with an Iranian delegation visiting the country to enhance strategic relations between Caracas and Tehran on Tuesday.
He was referring to talks brokered by Qatar in September 2023, which resulted in a prisoner swap in which 10 Americans and 18 Venezuelans were released in exchange for Alex Saab, a Venezuelan diplomat accused by Washington of money laundering. Saab was liberated in December from US prison after his kidnapping from Cape Verde in 2020.
Venezuela said that Washington had also vowed to end sanctions if a presidential election was held in 2024. The Biden administration suspended some sanctions after Maduro's government and the opposition agreed in Barbados last October to hold a free and fair vote.
Washington later accused Venezuelan authorities of violating the Barbados agreement and preventing the opposition from registering the candidate of their choice.
