[News] Bush Orders Sanctions Against Venezuela

[News at freedomarchives.org]

Bush Orders Sanctions Against Venezuela

32 minutes ago

By GEORGE GEDDA, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - President Bush 
(<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/*http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news?fr=news-storylinks&p=%22President%20Bush%22&c=&n=20&yn=c&c=news&cs=nw>news 
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<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/*http://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=web-storylinks&p=President%20Bush>web 
sites) on Friday ordered a partial cut in U.S. assistance to Venezuela 
because of its alleged role in the international trafficking of women and 
children for sexual exploitation.



The action means the United States will not support $250 million in 
Venezuelan loan requests expected to come before international lending 
institutions during the next fiscal year, a State Department official said.

If Venezuela secures sufficient support from other governments, its loan 
requests could be approved without U.S. backing.

Bush took the action under legislation that calls for sanctions against 
countries that fail to crack down on international trafficking in persons. 
The legislation is designed to encourage countries to take decisive action 
against the practice.

Bush's decision was announced in a White House memorandum to Secretary of 
State Colin Powell 
(<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/*http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news?fr=news-storylinks&p=%22Colin%20Powell%22&c=&n=20&yn=c&c=news&cs=nw>news 
- 
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/*http://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=web-storylinks&p=Colin%20Powell>web 
sites).

Left intact were programs designed to monitor Venezuelan elections and to 
support political party development, part of U.S. efforts to promote 
democracy worldwide.

It is official U.S. policy to carry out these activities on a nonpartisan 
basis, but Venezuela complained this year that the U.S. program in that 
country favored groups that supported the recall of President Hugo Chavez.

Chavez won the Aug. 15 recall referendum by a wide margin.

A State Department report issued in June on trafficking in persons 
worldwide was sharply critical of Venezuela.

"Venezuela is a source, transit and destination country for women and 
children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation," the report said.

"Brazilian and Colombian women and girls are trafficked through Venezuela," 
it said.

The report added that Venezuelans are trafficked internally for the 
domestic sex trade and to Western Europe, particularly Spain.

"Venezuelan sex tourism that encourages underage prostitution is a 
concern," it said.

The study cited reports that in border areas, Venezuelans are trafficked to 
mining camps in Guyana for sexual exploitation and abducted by leftist 
rebels in Colombia to be used as soldiers.

In an interview Friday with the Associated Press, Secretary of State Colin 
Powell said it remains to be seen whether the U.S.-Venezuelan relationship 
can recover from deep strains during the past several years.

"We have concerns about some of the actions that President Chavez has taken 
over the years in pursuit of his vision of Bolivarian democracy," Powell said.

"We want the Venezuelan people to do well. We are friends of the Venezuelan 
people. And now that the election, or the referendum, is over, we will just 
have to see how things develop."



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