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Venezuelan woman holding a banner that reads "#No+Bloqueó" (#No+Blockade) during a public Anti-Imperialism Day event in Plaza Bolívar in Caracas, condemning the eighth anniversary of the signing of the US Executive Order declaring Venezuela an "Unusual and Extraordinary Threat" to US security. Thursday, March 9, 2023. Photo: Fausto Torrealba/Últimas Noticias.
This Thursday, March 9, the president of Venezuela’s National Assembly (AN), Jorge Rodríguez, announced that “Venezuela is not going to sign any agreement with that sector of the Venezuelan opposition until we are 100% free of sanctions, until the 765 unilateral coercive measures signed by Donald Trump and Barack Hussein Obama are lifted,” in reference to the México Talks with the far-right Venezuelan opposition.
The announcement was part of a statement by Rodríguez at an Anti-Imperialism Day event, held in Plaza Bolívar in Caracas on March 9, marking the eighth anniversary of the signing of the US Executive Order that declared Venezuela an “Unusual and Extraordinary Threat” to US security; an excuse that imperialism has used in its multiform aggression against the Caribbean country.
“They wanted to erase the Bolivarian revolution from the face of the earth,” Rodríguez added, “but on the contrary: they made us stronger, they made us more dignified, they made us love our independence, our socialism, even more.”
Imperialist plans failed
The PSUV deputy warned that although North American imperialism presents two faces, “what it did with Venezuela was a true plan orchestrated by all the power factors of North American society, designed to put an end to the Bolivarian revolution.”
He highlighted the cruelty in the development of this plan, especially regarding their consideration that the illness of Commander Chávez was an opportunity.
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Rodríguez explained that the plan started with the victory of the opposition in the National Assembly in 2015, and by Obama’s decree, it later surrounded all aspects of Venezuelan life. As proof that everything is part of this same action, Rodríguez noted that all 765 sanctions signed by Donald Trump indicate in their first paragraph that they are based on the executive order signed by Obama in 2015.
The PSUV deputy stated that this siege has been “a multiform aggression, a true war,” recalling that the US has organized multiple destabilizing actions in the country, such as the electricity blackout sabotage in 2019, and various assassination attempts on President Maduro.
Despite this, he noted, their overthrow plan was defeated by the people of Venezuela, by the Venezuelan Armed Forces, and by President Nicolás Maduro.
Sanctions have allowed theft from Venezuela
Jorge Rodríguez pointed out that the unilateral coercive measures of these sanctions have allowed for the theft of billions of dollars. He mentioned $4 billion in CITGO profits, $2 billion in gold held at the Bank of England, and $7 billion in reserves held at US and European banks, among others.
Rodríguez also noted that due to the blockade of the oil industry, Venezuela didn’t produce four billion barrels of oil, which meant Venezuela failed to receive $232 billion. And, he added, since the sanctions were imposed, the country has stopped receiving more than $630 billion.
Rodríguez explained that this happened because, for the first time in the history of Venezuela, for every $100 of oil, $98 were invested straight into the people.
He pointed out that all these sanctions go against international standards and conventions on trade and economy, and that they have the sole purpose of annihilating the Bolivarian revolution in its search for sovereignty, freedom, and the right to manage Venezuela’s resources.
Breach of agreements
Rodríguez noted his participation in the different dialogue processes with the Venezuelan oppositions. He recounted that, while the planet was plunged into uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, President Maduro invited the representatives of the far-right to postpone the tirade and face together the fight for the health of the Venezuelan people.
However, they refused, and instead used the pandemic as a mechanism to persist in the aggression; they stole shipments of face masks, and they refused to allow a fraction of the sequestered resources to be used to purchase medical supplies and vaccines.
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The PSUV deputy also referred to the signing of the social agreement with the opposition sectors in November 2022 in order to recover $3 billion from those frozen assets, which was not fulfilled, since the response of the Biden administration was to send a letter to the UN saying that they did not guarantee the safety of those funds.
Rodríguez pointed out the lack of credibility of the opposition, and its inability to comply with the agreements and promises given within the framework of the México Talks.
(Últimas Noticias) by Degnis Merlo
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/AU
