Us economic sanctions could exacerbate the crisis in Venezuela
According to human rights organisations, the economic impact of the sanctions will directly affect ordinary people who are already living in socially vulnerable conditions
Economic sanctions tend to strengthen authoritarian leaders, as they are often used as a tool for repression and the violation of people’s rights. This is one of the arguments in the public note signed by Conectas and a further 15 civil society organisations, regarding the new restrictions announced by the Trump government against the regime of Nicolás Maduro last Monday (5).
The purpose of the action is to further limit Venezuela’s access to global trade. It is aimed at restricting the activities of outsourced companies that do business with the country. The North American government claims these sanctions will not affect the importation of provisions and medication.
According to the organisations, the US cannot guarantee that there will not be a negative impact on millions of Venezuelans who are suffering from a generalised lack of basic items of survival. Furthermore, the note emphasises that the exportation of oil from Venezuela underpins the country’s economy and restricting its trading will indirectly place the importation of these products at risk.
Finally, the document warns that in practice the economic impact of these sanctions will reduce importation, in the scenario of extreme vulnerability that millions of people in the country are living, and calls on the US government to find the means to deal with the Venezuelan situation in a way that does not exacerbate human suffering.
