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Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro (left) and former Bolivian President Evo Morales (right), with a wall in the background with banner captioning "#ObamaRepealTheExecutiveOrder," "#ObamaDerogaElDecretoYa," "#VenezuelaIsHope," during a ceremony when more that 13 million signatures were collected rejecting the White House decision declaring Venezuela an "unusual and extraordinary threat" to US security, Caracas, April 2015. Photo: File photo.
This Thursday, March 2, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela rejected the extension of Washington’s Executive Order issued in 2015 during the administration of Barack Obama, which declares Venezuela as an “unusual and extraordinary threat to the security” of the North American country.
Venezuelan minister for foreign affairs, Yván Gil, stated via social media that with the renewal of the Executive Order, Biden’s administration extends the aggression against Venezuelans with illegal sanctions. An official statement was attached to the social media posts.
“From Venezuela,” he wrote, “we reject the extension of Executive Order 13962 of March 8, 2015, signed by the president of the United States, which gives continuity to the criminal policy of aggression against our people through the imposition of unilateral coercive measures.”
Desde Venezuela rechazamos la extensión de la Orden Ejecutiva 13962 del 8 de marzo de 2015, firmada por el Presidente de los EEUU, la cual da continuidad a la criminal política de agresión en contra de nuestro pueblo a través de la imposición de Medidas Coercitivas Unilaterales. pic.twitter.com/70UqsYOZvn
— Yvan Gil (@yvangil) March 2, 2023
In the statement, Venezuela condemns the unfounded assertion that Venezuela represents some kind of threat against the United States, especially when it is evident that Venezuelans have been the victim of US threats, blackmail, aggression, and attacks, in violation of the most basic human rights principles and in clear violation of international rules, thus configuring it as a crime against humanity.
Below you can read the full unofficial translation of the statement:
Venezuela rejects extension of US criminal policy of aggression
The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela forcefully rejects the most recent extension of Executive Order 13962 from March 8, 2015 by the President of the United States of America, thus giving continuity to the criminal policy of aggression against the Venezuelan people through the illegal imposition of unilateral coercive measures.
The Bolivarian Government also condemns the unfounded assertion that Venezuela represents some kind of threat against the United States, even more so when it is evident that Venezuela has been the country that has had to face a multiplicity of threats, blackmail, aggression, and attacks that violate the human rights of all the Venezuelan people, and the norms established in international public law, configuring a crime against humanity.
Human Rights Expert Alfred de Zayas Demands End to Sanctions Against Venezuela
With this extension of the erratic policy of the White House, a government that boasts of defending human rights and the principles of democracy, only reveals once again its authoritarian, cruel and lying character, its disrespect for sovereignty and the self-determination of the peoples, and its essentially colonialist condition that intends, through all kinds of pressure, to subdue the free people of Venezuela by force.
The Government of Venezuela conducts its international relations under the principles of solidarity between peoples and peace diplomacy.
It could never be classified as a threat, rather, its commitment to regional stability, to the peaceful resolution of conflicts and to cooperation and complementarity relations, have been recorded in the memory of the peoples.
The sovereignty of Venezuela is unshakable. No aggression, however great it may be, will subdue the democratic will of its people. Its legitimate and revolutionary constitutional government hopes that the United States will once and for all give up this absurd policy full of arrogance and doomed to failure, opting for a civilized policy where the principles of diplomacy and mutual respect prevail.
Caracas, March 2, 2023
929 sanctions against Venezuela
“With the renewal of the Obama Executive Order (OE 13692 / March 2015), the Venezuelan Anti-Blockade Observatory updates to 929 unilateral coercive measures against Venezuela,” wrote Vice Minister of Anti-Blockade Policies, William Castillo, regarding the order first signed by Obama, and extended during the administrations of Donald Trump and now Joe Biden. “The renewal of the Executive Order extends the effects of the blockade over time.”
Last September, the Venezuelan government and the far-right sector of the opposition—the self-denominated Unitary Platform—signed the Second Partial Agreement for the Social Protection of the Venezuelan People, during the second round of the México Talks.
President Maduro Rules Out Resuming Mexico Talks (+Washington Not Keeping Its Word)
There, Washington, via the far-right Venezuelan opposition, agreed to release $3 billion—which have been frozen in the international financial system, after the sanctions—in order to meet urgent needs of the Venezuelan people. Since then, no money has been released, and the Venezuelan government has announce that this lack of Washington keeping their word has forced the government to avoid resuming the México Talks.
(Últimas Noticias) by Ariadna Eljuri, with Orinoco Tribune editing
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/AU
