Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil during his speech at the 79th UN General Assembly in New York on June 16, 2025. Photo: AVN.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil said that Venezuela has withstood and overcome the worst stages of the economic and commercial siege imposed by illegal United States sanctions through its own efforts.
This Monday, June 16, during his speech at the 79th United Nations (UN) General Assembly, he reiterated that “March 9 marked 10 years since the beginning of this cruel campaign of aggression against our country, which, under the guise of the US government, has been called maximum pressure. However, it translates as maximum cruelty, having been irresponsibly decreed by President Barack Obama.”
Minister Gil said unilateral coercive measures are part of a new form of colonialism. Through alleged economic suffocation, they are trying to force “our entire nation to submit to the dictates of Washington and its satellites. What a disregard for our history, our ideals, and the warrior blood of the Venezuelan people, heirs to Liberator SimĂłn BolĂvar’s struggle.”
Gil stated that “the US government and its European satellites have been applying over 1,000 sanctions against our people for the past 10 years, generating not only pain and suffering for 30 million Venezuelans but also economic losses that exceeded $642 billion by 2022, so three years later the figure is even higher.”
He condemned attempts to isolate Venezuela both politically and diplomatically, making particular reference to “the pitiful and ridiculous attempt to impose a fictitious government and rely on the disregard of our national authorities and institutions.”
Referring to the economic and social sphere, Gil said that “they [United States] have opted to destroy the [Venezuelan] state and its capabilities for guaranteeing the well-being of the people, with the main objective being to advance a policy of regime change that has failed and will continue to fail.”
“Today, despite all the aggression, the attempts at military invasion, the attacks, sieges, and the legal war; despite the assassination attempts against the President of the Republic and high-ranking officials, despite the violence and the unilateral coercive measures, Venezuela is one of the most politically and socially stable countries in our hemisphere,” he added.
Minister Gil clarified that “our economy is resurfacing under the leadership of President Nicolás Maduro. That is a reality that the traditional media will never report.” He also emphasized that “every day this policy against Venezuela persists, the alternative capacities for economic, political, social, and cultural development of its people will be strengthened and realized.”
Venezuela will always unleash a torrent of opportunities
Foreign Minister Gil made it clear that “for every measure that seeks to freeze a good, a service, a monetary value, a transaction, Venezuela will unleash a torrent of new opportunities.”
As proof of this popular gallantry, Gil said, “Through their own efforts, our people have resisted and overcome the failed attempts to starve us to death, to kill us through disease. Even during the worst stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, their criminal intentions were evident when the United States and Europe tried to block Venezuela’s access to medicines, vaccines, and equipment for the protection of the people.”
He added that Venezuelans “have also managed to overcome the challenges resulting from the theft and looting of our assets, including tons of gold in the Bank of England, millions in special drawing rights at the International Monetary Fund, and even Venezuelan-owned refineries in the United States,” specifying that “today, we can show growth figures far above those of other countries in the region that are not subject to these attacks, figures endorsed by international organizations such as the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).”
Additionally, he clarified that “this is not a miracle, as some might say, but rather a consistent, coherent, and well-designed effort and policy, always aimed at guaranteeing the most fundamental thing: public protection through social investment.”
The Venezuelan Foreign Minister emphasized that “the crimes committed for decades through unilateral coercive measures must end and be duly prosecuted. Therefore, it is urgent to break the prevailing cycle of impunity, which has only perpetuated these attacks that clearly violate international law.”
He said, “Our people demand justice and an end to the alleged moral superiority.” He called for “unity, and not to allow this global problem to be hidden, ignored, or minimized on the international agenda.”
Minister Gil insisted it is necessary to continue the struggle “until we achieve the establishment of a world free of unilateral coercive measures, where the right to peace and development is a reality for all without discussion or exclusion of any kind.”
Sanctions represent patterns of domination
Speaking in the name of the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations, Foreign Minister Gil asserted that unilateral coercive measures are part of patterns of domination that constitute crimes against humanity since they are not only illegal, cruel, and inhumane actions but also flagrantly violate fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter and international law.
Additionally, he confirmed these actions are unjust because they seek to strangle the Global South, emphasizing the economic and financial blockade that has been in place against Cuba for over 60 years.
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In this regard, Foreign Minister Gil reaffirmed his solidarity with the Caribbean nation, urging the US government to immediately end the blockade against Cuba and remove it from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism.
As a reflection, Gil stated that sanctions also hinder access to human rights and cooperation between nations, noting that, on a global scale, they prolong human suffering. “Hence, the urgent need to put a complete, immediate, and unconditional stop to them.”
Finally, he added “the urgent need to advance the proposal submitted by the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations on the means to prevent, remove, eliminate, minimize, and remedy the adverse effects and impacts of unilateral coercive measures.”
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
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