By demanding that the Venezuelan request be withdrawn, the U.S. diplomats generated an impasse which forced the suspension of a WTO meeting.
Venezuela’s Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge Arreaza on Friday informed that his country sued the U.S. before the World Trade Organization (WTO) for imposing unilateral coercive measures contrary to international norms and principles.
“Sooner rather than later, Venezuela will defeat through law what the U.S. intends to impose through force,” he said, recalling that the U.S. blockade seeks to destabilize President Nicolas Maduro’s administration.
In an attempt to avoid criticism from a multilateral institution, the United States prevented Venezuela from requesting the formation of a WTO panel whose objective would be to determine whether the unilateral sanctions imposed between 2018 and 2019 violate global trade rules.
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By demanding that the Venezuelan request be withdrawn, the U.S. diplomats generated an impasse which forced the suspension of a WTO meeting in Geneva on Friday.
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Previously, in mid-March, Venezuela also submitted to the International Criminal Court (ICC) new documents related to the economic, social, and epidemiological effects caused by the U.S. sanctions.
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Among those was a report on the effects of the coercive measures issued by the UN special rapporteur Alena Douhan, who pointed out that the U.S. policies were actions of “economic asphyxia” and crimes against humanity.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) also acknowledged that the punitive actions taken by its country contributed significantly to the decline in Venezuela’s production, exports, and revenues since 2015.
Featured image: World Trade Organization headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland, 2021. | Photo: Twitter/ @EmbaVEChina
