Venezuela Demands Before the UN the Elimination of Unilateral Coercive Measures
Venezuelan FM Yvan Gil, NY, U.S., June 13, 2024. Photo: X/ @CancilleriaVE
June 13, 2024 Hour: 1:12 pm
The Bolivarian nation rejected the economic blockade that the United States has maintained against Cuba for over 60 years.
On Thursday, Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Yvan Gil urged the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to put an end to all “unilateral coercive measures” that the United States and its allies apply against developing countries.
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He also emphasized that unilateral coercive measures constitute crimes against humanity as they violate the human rights of entire populations.
Speaking before the plenary on the agenda dedicated to analyzing and rejecting these forms of collective punishment, the Bolivarian diplomat described as a failure the measures that ten U.S. administrations have maintained against the Cuban revolution for over 60 years. He also demanded that Washington withdraw these measures and remove Cuba from the unilateral list of states that sponsor terrorism.
Gil recalled that over 30 nations are subject to arbitrary unilateral sanctions, which affect multilateralism, undermine trust among nations, and create obstacles for the affectec countries’ development.
He denounced the U.S. attempt to strip his country of CITGO, a company that is part of the assets that the Venezuelan State holds in U.S. territory. Gil rejected the U.S. harassment against Petrocaribe, a solidarity program that Venezuela maintained for years to benefit 11 Caribbean nations with fuel at fair prices.
The Bolivarian diplomat reminded that his country will hold presidential elections on July 28 in a peaceful environment, with 11 candidates who have spoken out against unilateral coercive measures.
The Venezuelan people have also massively rejected these measures, seeing them as an attempt to impose a neocolonial regime in their country and as the direct cause of restrictions on economic development. Therefore, Gil is confident that President Nicolas Maduro will be reelected with broad support.
During his speech, Gil recalled that the United States and its allies have implemented over 930 unilateral coercive measures against Venezuela since 2014. As a result, Venezuela has stopped producing 3.3 billion oil barrels, which could have provided up to US$232 billion in revenue.
“The losses caused to Venezuela were greater than the international reserves of eleven South American countries,” he emphasized and noted that over US$220 billion in Venezuelan assets remain arbitrarily frozen in international banks.
“Globally, we are the 5th country with the most sanctioned individuals, the 6th nation with the most affected public companies and institutions, the 4th state with the most harmed naval vessels, and the 3rd country with the most sanctioned aircraft,” the Venezuelan diplomat stated.
In addition to advocating for a multilateral system based on respect for the United Nations Charter, Gil called on the countries’ representatives to identify ways to counteract unilateral restrictive measures. One such action could be the creation of a “safe zone” that prevents the unilateral imposition of sanctions and requires perpetrator States to pay compensation to victimized States.
Gil requested that the UN Secretariat present a report on the application of unilateral coercive measures and the damage they cause to countries. He also urged preventing developed countries from minimizing or ignoring the devastating effect that unilateral coercive measures have on nations in the Global South.
Source: VTV
teleSUR/ JF
