Caracas: The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, denounced the impact of unilateral coercive measures on his country’s economy to face the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the framework of the 49th Ordinary Session of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations (UN), Maduro stressed that Venezuela manages to mitigate the pandemic, despite the great difficulties caused by the imposition of unilateral coercive measures, which he described as “criminal, punitive and extortive sanctions against the economy and against the people.”
The Venezuelan president stressed that his nation receives the impact of 503 unilateral coercive measures “to destroy our economy, destabilize our democracy and end the inclusive social model built by the Bolivarian Revolution.”
In turn, the dignitary denounced a sustained media campaign against Caracas. “Attempted coups and assassinations, mercenary invasions made in Washington, paramilitary penetration supported by the Colombian government,” he pointed out.
According to Telesur, the president denounced the retention and sequestration of 31 tons of gold from Venezuelan reserves by the Bank of England with the support of the United Kingdom government and the freezing of more than 1,000 million dollars by the new Bank of Portugal. , among other examples.
Above all, the Bank of England, the Novo Banco and the Citi Bank, keep Venezuelan funds withheld. These financial institutions “deny us the right to use resources to buy vaccines, medicines, food and supplies in general, in the fight against Covid-19 and to guarantee the rights to health and life of the Venezuelan people,” he added.
“This global tragedy has exacerbated the injustices and deep inequalities that already exist in the world. This fact has been expressed in the unequal access to vaccines and treatments”, he commented.
The president insisted on accusing what he described as “the imperialist elite of the United States and the neocolonial elite of the European Union” of violating the human rights of Venezuelans with the sanctions imposed.
Maduro also referred to the case of Alex Saab. “Ambassador Álex Saab was illegally kidnapped in June 2020 in Cape Verde when he was on an official mission to bring food and medicine to Venezuela. On October 26, he was kidnapped by the United States military and taken illegally to the state of Florida. His diplomatic immunity, his human rights, and his own physical integrity were violated. His trial in a United States court is riddled with serious vices and distortions,” he stated.
He also highlighted that Saab has been appointed official representative of his government at the dialogue table in Mexico. “Consequently, the second kidnapping of him and the illegal extraction of him to the United States are a deliberate and cunning blow to the development and continuity of the dialogue process in Mexico,” he stated.