Venezuela urges the UN to abolish unilateral coercive measures: summary
What we know
- Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil on Thursday, June 13 called on the United Nations General Assembly to eliminate all 'unilateral coercive measures' enforced by the United States and its partners against developing nations.
- Addressing the plenary session focused on the critical examination and repudiation of such collective sanctions, Gil condemned the U.S. efforts to expropriate CITGO, a corporation that constitutes a portion of the Venezuelan State's assets within the United States.
- Foreign Minister Gil also expressed strong opposition to the U.S. pressure on Petrocaribe, a program of solidarity through which Venezuela has long provided 11 Caribbean nations with fuel at equitable prices.
- In his address, Minister Gil noted that since 2014, the United States and its allies have imposed more than 930 unilateral coercive measures on Venezuela. These actions have led to a halt in the production of 3.3 billion barrels of oil, potentially amounting to revenues of up to USD 232 billion.
- Venezuelans have overwhelmingly disapproved of these sanctions, viewing them as an effort to enforce a neocolonial order within their nation and as a primary factor hindering economic progress.
- The Bolivarian envoy ultimately proposed the establishment of a 'safe zone' to prohibit the unilateral imposition of sanctions and mandate that states imposing such measures provide compensation to the states that are adversely affected.
- Telesur reports that Gil emphasised the plight of over 30 nations under arbitrary unilateral sanctions. He pointed out that such sanctions undermine the essence of multilateralism, diminish trust among nations, and create substantial obstacles to the progress of the countries affected.
What they said
“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 losses caused to Venezuela were greater than the international reserves of eleven South American countries,” the Venezuelan diplomat stated before the UN as reported by Telesur.
