The blockade of Venezuela - a crime against humanity


One of the favorite themes of reactionary “liberal” media in recent years has been the economic difficulties of Venezuela. A country that has proclaimed a policy of building socialism is being severely attacked by the United States and its lackeys, suffering from an economic blockade imposed by the imperialists. But the bourgeois media of Venezuela’s economic difficulties caused by the blockade are trying to pass off as “the consequences of the transition to socialism”.

Here it is time to recall the famous saying of V.I. Lenin about the reactionary media: “One method of the bourgeois press always and in all countries turns out to be the most current and“ unmistakably ”valid. Lie, make a noise, scream, repeat a lie - “something will remain”. ” More than a hundred years have passed since Ilyich noticed this peculiarity of bourgeois journalism, but ... Nothing in this regard has changed since that time.

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What are the real consequences of US economic sanctions for their satellites against Venezuela?

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A few years ago, the national economy was going uphill, poverty was declining in the country, millions of people were gaining access to health care and education, and their material well-being was improving. In recent years, the situation has begun to change for the worse.

The US goal is to create a “humanitarian crisis” in Venezuela, to cause appearances of disgruntled people against the power of the socialist party, and if this is not enough, intervene with the help of military force. “The pressure campaign on Venezuela is working. The financial sanctions we imposed ... forced the government to begin defaulting on both the sovereign debt and the debt of the oil company PDVSA. And we see ... a complete economic collapse in Venezuela. So our policy is working, our strategy is working, and we will stick to it, ”said the cynical statement of the US Department of State on January 9, 2018.

“We have to do this, knowing that it will affect millions of people who already have difficulties with food and medicine,” said William Brownfield, a former US ambassador to Venezuela, with frankness to the cannibal.

“Sanctions” in practice constitute a blockade of the economy, finance and international trade of Venezuela. The economic and financial blockade has impeded Venezuelans' access to food, medicine, basic goods and international financing, which has affected Venezuela’s economic performance since 2015. Due to the terrible consequences for the population and the impact on the life and health of the Venezuelan people, the economic and financial blockade is a deliberate act of mass violation of the human rights of the Venezuelan people, which should be considered a crime against humanity, said UN Special Rapporteur on promoting sustainable democratic order Alfred de Zayas.

A ban on operations with debt instruments of the oil company PDVSA has been announced. There was a "freezing" of assets of CITGO in the United States, which are the property of the Venezuelan state. Produced closure of foreign accounts belonging to Venezuelan institutions and enterprises. The transnational financial system fails to process financial transactions to or from Venezuela and delays in processing them. There was a freezing and withholding of funds from Venezuela, gold and other assets. Transnational pharmaceutical companies refused to supply drugs purchased by Venezuela. There has been a blockage of sending and confiscating food consignments by governments hostile to Venezuela.

The pursuit of PDVSA activities led to the loss of jobs in the national oil industry and had a negative impact on the industry. The blockade caused a fall in domestic economic activity in Venezuela and international trade. There was a rise in prices for foreign currency, triggering speculative attacks on the national currency. The blockade led to shortages and shortages of food, medicine and basic industrial goods. The outflow of capital, denials of credit, the increase in the cost of international credit for Venezuela caused huge financial losses to the republic.



The value of PDVSA assets under US jurisdiction and frozen in the United States was $ 30 billion. The Bank of England refused to Venezuela to return more than $ 1.2 billion in gold bars. Approximately the same amount keeps the financial company Euroclear.

The consequences of the blockade led to the fact that in the oil sector of Venezuela - the country's most important industry - from August 2017 to October 2018 there was a decrease in production by 500 thousand barrels per day. The decline in national income was 17 billion dollars. The investment in the Orinoco oil belt has slowed dramatically.

The economic blockade has seriously affected the availability of food. The number of available kilocalories for Venezuelans has decreased by 39% over the past four years, and the availability of proteins has decreased by almost half in the same period.

If in 2005 - 2015 Venezuela showed achievements in reducing hunger

and the UN Food Organization declared the country free of hunger, then in 2017 the prevalence of malnutrition among children exceeded 5% of the child population. The number of children suffering from acute malnutrition exceeded 145 thousand people, and the number of children suffering from chronic malnutrition reached 381 thousand people.

The consequences of the blockade in the field of health are terrible. The imperialists want to prevent Venezuela from having access to raw materials, medicines and medical equipment in order to provoke a health crisis. The American bank Citibank is blocking funds intended for the importation of 300 thousand doses of insulin, as a result of which more than 450 thousand people with diabetes have suffered. The purchase of 2 million units of the antimalarial drug has been blocked. The BSN medical laboratory in Colombia refused to release the medicine after payment was received, and the company that made the transaction was subject to US sanctions.

The Swiss bank UBS blocked Venezuela’s vaccine procurement program for the 2017 vaccination program. This case forced Venezuela to look for alternatives in banks in other countries, which led to a four-month delay in the implementation of the vaccination program.

There was a refusal by pharmaceutical multinational companies Pfizer and Novartis to sell medicines, reagents and consumables for the treatment of chronic diseases. Among the drugs that Venezuela could not buy were medicines for the treatment of Parkinson's disease, immunosuppressants, reagents and materials for laboratories.

The retention of Venezuelan funds by Euroclear has also damaged the procurement of medicines and equipment. There has been a blocking of financial transactions for the purchase of immunoderivatives, in particular immunoglobulin.

Spanish bank Santander has blocked financial transactions for the purchase of spare parts for cardiovascular surgery equipment for children. More than 800 programs in the Pediatric Heart Hospital of Venezuela could not be implemented due to the inability to purchase these spare parts.



60 years ago, similar events unfolded around revolutionary Cuba. The US capitalists, dissatisfied with the victory of the revolution on the island, imposed an economic blockade of the republic. But the Cuban revolutionaries headed by F. Castro did not fear the difficulties, accelerated the socialist transformations and found new friends in the person of the USSR and China, developing economic relations with them.

The government of S. Allende in Chile tried to go a different way about half a century ago. The Chilean socialists did not dare to make radical changes in the country, and soon, during the economic blockade and the difficulties caused by it, they lost power.

Which way will Venezuela go? South American Republic today is more difficult than Cuba. A reliable friend of Venezuela is only Cuba, which has retained its freedom. But, although “new capitalists” are now in power in Russia and China, it is possible to use their “inter-imperialist contradictions” with the USA and develop economic relations with these countries.

But the main thing: the future of Venezuela depends on how the popular character of the ruling United Socialist Party will be preserved. If Venezuelan socialists show determination in the matter of expropriating the local oligarchy and transferring the country's wealth to the people, then ordinary people will not be afraid of the blockade and foreign threats. Then Venezuela will emerge victorious in the unfolding struggle for its future. If the Venezuelan socialists retreat, surrender, then the future of the country will be even darker.

Do not give up, Venezuelan comrades, and you will win!

Dar Vetrov