Venezuela crisis: Former UN rapporteur says US sanctions are killing citizens

[Judi Lynn]

‘Modern-day economic sanctions and blockades are comparable with medieval sieges of towns’

Michael Selby-Green
Saturday 26 January 2019 19:00

The first UN rapporteur to visit Venezuela for 21 years has told The Independent the US sanctions on the country are illegal and could amount to “crimes against humanity” under international law.

Former special rapporteur Alfred de Zayas, who finished his term at the UN in March, has criticized the US for engaging in “economic warfare” against Venezuela which he said is hurting the economy and killing Venezuelans.

The comments come amid worsening tensions in the country after the US and UK have backed Juan Guaido, who appointed himself “interim president” of Venezuela as hundreds of thousands marched to support him. European leaders are calling for “free and fair” elections. Russia and Turkey remain Nicolas Maduro’s key supporters.

. . .

“Sanctions kill,” he told The Independent, adding that they fall most heavily on the poorest people in society, demonstrably cause death through food and medicine shortages, lead to violations of human rights and are aimed at coercing economic change in a “sister democracy”.

More:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/venezuela-us-sanctions-united-nations-oil-pdvsa-a8748201.html

[Zorro]

1. So Maduro isn't the one responsible for ongoing food and medicine shortages?

It's the impending US sanctions against the Venezuelan oil industry that's really to blame?

[Igel]

2. The timing's all wrong.

He's saying that the sanctions imposed by Obama against 7 Venezuelan nationals and their personal assets in the US in the US is responsible for the country's inability to import food and medicine. He's saying that Fitch and Moody, essentially, are agents of the US government. And that Obama manipulated global currency markets to cripple Venezuela.

He cites Maduro's appointees and supporters. There no evidence that he even read the things he's citing with the question, "Are these really responsible?" He takes the assertions at face value, and spends as much time discussing the legality of non-UN-approved sanctions, esp. by the US, as discussing what's done.

It has nothing to do with the newly implemented oil sanctions and little to do with Trump himself.

Notice, of course, that Obama's 2014-15 sanctions are also what's responsible for the currency problems which started in 2012.