Maduro blames US and EU restrictions for Venezuela's decline

Venezuela is failing to respond to the social and health crisis that is a direct consequence of the pandemic caused by COVID-19. According to President Nicolas Maduro, this is due to international sanctions that include the foreign blockade of assets belonging to his country.

During the opening of the sessions of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council, Maduro pointed out in a telematic intervention that his country is facing more than 450 sanctions with the aim of causing a change of government and notes that "they seek to exert excessive pressure and persuasion against it".

As a result of restrictions by the EU and the US, Maduro's government estimates at least $30 billion of assets that it cannot access. According to him, these millions could be used to combat both the health and economic crisis. 

Maduro told the Human Rights Council (HRC), which is being held telematically from Geneva, that "the kidnappers of the assets and resources of the Venezuelan state have shown great cruelty, even in pandemic circumstances, disregarding the calls of the international community".

Earlier, Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, noted that financial punishments against Venezuela were not effective in bringing the Maduro government to cooperate. 

Major human rights violations in Venezuela were corroborated in an investigation mandated by the UNHRC under the mandate of Bachelet's office. This investigation also includes events in which those responsible in the government could be complicit and which can be considered crimes against humanity.

However, according to Maduro, the economic sanctions have been increased and he points to them as the cause of Venezuela's health crisis, leading to the emigration of more than 5 million people. 

He also rejected any "inquisitorial mechanism" that seeks to use the cause of human rights as a "political tool" by pledging collaboration with the UNHRC. As he refers to this as "ideologised provocations" that will not disconcert the assistance carried out by his regime under Bachelet. 

The aim of Bachelet's office is to set up an office in Caracas with a broad scope and to work independently. But Maduro does not accept this.