ALBA-TCP Secretary General Jorge Arreaza (left) speaking with journalist Julio Riobó (right) on the A Pulso television program on VTV on May 4, 2024. Photo: Venezuelan Ministry for Communes.
The executive secretary of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA-TCP), Jorge Arreaza, announced this weekend that Venezuela’s losses due to the illegal sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union (EU) since 2015 are approaching one trillion US dollars.
During an interview this Saturday, May 4, on the Venezolana de Television television station (VTV), Arreaza explained that “the economic blockade [cost], at this moment, must reach $800 billion, and we are heading towards a cost of one trillion dollars… That is why corruption is one thing, but the immense damage that the blockade has caused to Petróleos de Venezuela [PDVSA] is another.”
However, Arreaza added that the Venezuelan government has launched different initiatives to minimize the impact caused by the sanctions and is convinced that President Maduro managed to find the formula “that mocks, in the good sense of the word, the worst of the sanctions and the blockade.”
The Venezuelan diplomat said that the sanctions and economic blockade are the reason for the phenomenon of increased Venezuelan migration, which is why he invited all compatriots who are abroad to return to the country in order to help build the homeland.
“Migration is a phenomenon that exists,” said Arreaza. “There is an obvious cause, which is the blockade of the country, the sanctions, the decrease in social investment, and without a doubt, many Venezuelans have left… We must be honest about the issue of migration, which is not a topic to play with, to take lightly. You have to take it seriously and be very sincere.”
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Growth at all costs
Although the country has more than 900 unilateral and illegal coercive economic measures (euphemistically referred to as “sanctions”) imposed against its economy, the strategies implemented by the Venezuelan government to circumvent the sanctions have resulted in many victories: Venezuela has had 11 quarters of economic growth since 2021.
This was reported by the Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez this week in the National Assembly, when she presented the Bill for the Protection of Social Security Pensions against the Imperialist Blockade. She added that during this first quarter of 2024, a growth of $2 billion US was reported. This income will translate into benefits and improvements for workers, she noted.
(RedRadioVE) by Victoria Torres with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
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