Independent UN human rights rapporteur Alena Douhan has appealed for the sanctions imposed on Venezuela by the EU and the US to be lifted, claiming they make civilians who are affected by extreme poverty even poorer. US officials criticized the report.
After spending 12 days in Venezuela, Douhan concluded that the sanctions imposed on the Venezuelan regime significantly exacerbated access to food, medicines, energy, and other basic services of the poor. Douhan particularly condemned the sanctions that the US imposed in 2019 which introduced a ban on Venezuelan oil exports, the main source of income for this Latin American nation since it produces virtually nothing else.
As the world’s largest reservoir, the export of oil allowed Nicolas Maduro’s regime to earn payment in dollars thus enabling it to import medicines or food of which Venezuela produces very little itself. After the sanctions were imposed in 2019, the country was practically cut off from the international payments system which made it extremely difficult to purchase imported products. The sanctions also affected domestic food production and access to many services, caused by insufficient funds for petrol import. Although Venezuela has the largest world oil deposit it does not produce gasoline.
Despite the sanctions leading to a significant decline in Venezuelan oil exports, the Maduro regime continues to sell oil to China, Malaysia, Russia, and other countries using venture companies to disguise the fact that the oil is sourced from Venezuela and thus avoiding sanctions.
After her visit to Venezuela, Douhan said, “The devastating effect of sanctions imposed is multiplied by extra-territoriality and over-compliance adversely affecting public and private sectors, Venezuela citizens, non-governmental organizations, third-country national and companies.” Her words were commented upon by a US State Department spokesperson for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs who criticized the way in which Douhan had gathered her findings, saying “Instead of meeting with NGOs, independent journalists, members of the opposition, political prisoners, and other victims of harassment and attacks directed by Maduro and his supporters, the UN Special Rapporteur visiting Caracas spoke almost only to regime insiders and others the regime authorized.”
Douhan replied that during her visit she had attempted to talk with representatives of NGOs, the opposition, the church, and Maduro’s government. Prior to her report, the American think-tank, the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), also issued a report in which its analysts drew very similar conclusions to those of Douhan, estimating that the sanctions imposed by the US on Venezuela in 2017 and in 2019 had seriously impacted civil society. The CEPR cites the National Survey of Living Conditions conducted by three Venezuelan universities, according to which the general mortality from 2017 to 2018 increased by 31% which means there had been 40,000 more deaths within one year. The CEPR sees this increase as the result of sanctions.
Although it is hard to deny that the sanctions have had an impact on Venezuela’s income, it is also significant that, even before these were imposed, this Latin American nation had registered a record high level of inflation and an economic crisis which led to the ongoing humanitarian crisis.
These circumstances were triggered by mismanagement by Maduro’s government and extreme levels of corruption whereby the money that the Venezuelan regime earned from oil exports was not properly distributed amongst people in need who were suffering extreme poverty and hunger. The corruption also hampered the much-needed modernization of the oil industry and the electricity infrastructure in Venezuela leading to a fall in oil production and constant blackouts that in turn affected the living conditions of many Venezuelans.
