[News] Venezuelan Children Continue to Die Under US Sanctions While Washington Funds ‘Democracy Programs’

[Anti-Imperialist News]

venezuelanalysis.com <https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/15674>
Venezuelan Children Continue to Die Under US Sanctions While Washington
Funds ‘Democracy Programs’
By Andreína Chávez Alava - December 26, 2022
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[image: image.png]

Venezuelan human rights organization Fundalatin recently announced
<https://twitter.com/fundalatin/status/1606260813425057792> the death of
Gabriel Cisneros, a Venezuelan child who could not receive a liver
transplant because Washington’s murderous sanctions continue to paralyze
the state-funded program that covered these procedures.

Gabriel is sadly one more in a long list of victims of the US economic war.
The Simón Bolívar Foundation is the social program of US-based Venezuelan
oil subsidiary CITGO <https://www.venezuelanalysis.com/tag/citgo>. It was
created in 2006 by former President Hugo Chávez to help patients with rare
cancers, especially children with leukemia, receive transplants and other
life-saving treatments in hospitals abroad when these were not available in
the country.

However, financial sanctions <https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/13330>
imposed in 2017 against Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, CITGO’s parent
company, blocked the Venezuelan government from using the international
financial system, thus impeding payments for kids' treatments. The
situation was later compounded when Washington seized CITGO in early 2019
and put it under the control of the US-backed self-proclaimed “interim
government” led by Juan Guaidó.

Although the opposition-appointed board could have continued the social
program easily bypassing US sanctions, it decided to no longer pay for
treatments for critically ill patients anyway. To make matters even more
infuriating one of Guaidó’s associates, Roland Carreño, was detained in
2020 carrying paperwork showing US $8,500 transfers from the Simón Bolívar
Foundation to four major opposition parties every six months.

The consequence has been 14 children dying between 2017 and 2020 after not
receiving transplants. Some 190 cancer patients, including 53 kids, remain
stranded in the countries they went to for treatment, according to a report
<https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15269> by United Nations (UN)
independent human rights expert Alena Douhan.

Last year, the UN rapporteur visited Venezuela and brought attention to the
“disastrous” <https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15323> health situation
caused by US sanctions. Purchases of basic medicine, blood reagents,
vaccines, antibiotics, anesthetics, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS treatments
have been blocked, and only 20 percent of the equipment
<https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15604> in hospitals is functioning due
to the inability to obtain spare parts.

For anyone doubting how serious this problem is let me tell you another
story. Last year, my uncle, who lived in Maracaibo, western Zulia state,
had a stroke and was rushed to several medical centers but none had a
functioning CT scan or radiotherapy machine. Doctors presumed he had a
brain tumor due to his rapidly deteriorating state but they were never able
to adequately examine him and prepare for a surgery that might have saved
his life.

Several weeks after my uncle's stroke that gradually left him in a
vegetative condition, a family member found a private clinic with an
operative radiotherapy machine but the cost was so high that it took days
to gather the money and by then my uncle passed away. Not to mention that
all of this happened amidst severe fuel shortages due to US sanctions
against the oil industry <https://venezuelanalysis.com/images/15301>,
making the whole ordeal even more horrifying.

Undoubtedly, both Gabriel, who couldn’t receive his liver transplant, and
my uncle, who was never even properly diagnosed, are direct victims of US
murderous sanctions. Same as the 40,000-100,000 Venezuelans that died
between 2017-2020 due to sanctions
<https://venezuelanalysis.com/images/15295> undermining human rights,
according to separate studies by the Washington DC-based Center for
Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) and UN Special Rapporteur Alfred de
Zayas.

Recently, the Nicolás Maduro government and the US-backed hardline
opposition resumed talks in Mexico and reached an agreement
<https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15662> to release some US $3 billion in
Venezuelan funds seized by Washington and its European allies. The
resources will reportedly be administered by UN agencies for urgent social
needs, such as obtaining vaccines for children, medication for 60,000
cancer patients as well as HIV/AIDS treatments and recovering the country’s
radiotherapy system.

Although there’s no clear timeline for when the funds will be freed given
that it depends on Washington and their Venezuelan opposition puppets’
willingness to comply with the deal, one can only hope that it happens soon
because many lives depend on it. It is worth pointing out that $3 billion
is only a tiny fraction of all Venezuela's frozen assets abroad, which
ranges between 24 and 30 billion dollars, according to the government.

That said, surely we can all agree on how outrageous it is that the
Venezuelan government had to sit at a negotiating table with a criminal
opposition faction, one that has spearheaded violent coup attempts for
years while boycotting elections, in order to access funds that rightfully
belong to the Venezuelan people.

It is worth recalling that Guaidó and his acolytes have repeatedly endorsed
US sanctions and have gleefully cheered for every single murderous measure
levied against Venezuela. Of course, sanctions don’t affect them the same
as working-class citizens. On the contrary, they have lined up their
pockets with seized assets and bank accounts as well as direct US financing
for this incredible scam they call “restoring democracy.”

On December 19, the US Senate approved the 2023 spending bill
<https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/JRQ121922.PDF> which
includes $50 million for "democracy programs” for Venezuela, upping from
the $33 and $40 million allotted in previous years. So it is no wonder that
Guaidó is fighting tooth and nail to preserve his pretend presidential seat
as former opposition allies look to replace him with an "executive
committee." Washington’s dismissal of Guaidó is in the winds as well.

With his most die-hard allies souring on him, Guaidó has no popular support
to rely on because people saw through his self-proclamation fraud, a façade
to steal Venezuelan resources and assets abroad. Recent public appearances
have ended up in an egg-throwing festival while international recognition
has fallen to Washington and a handful of European lackeys.

But if Guaidó loses his post as the number one US puppet, does that mean
he'll finally be prosecuted for his crimes? Very unlikely. Arresting Guaidó
will be another excuse for Washington to ramp up its murderous sanctions
regime. As Hugo Chávez once said:

"We are not fighting against the Venezuelan political opposition. We are
not fighting against outlets that continue to be political instruments of
the opposition. We are not fighting against the old, decayed, moribund
parties of the Punto Fijo Pact. No! What we are fighting against is the
most powerful, immoral, cynical, and murderous empire that has ever
existed: the United States of America."

And although it might be curtains for Guaidó, the opposition is not about
to give up the stream of resources sent directly from their northern
benefactor, like a sadistic version of Santa Claus. The three opposition
forces want to end the “interim government” but wish to maintain the 2015
National Assembly — whose term expired in January 2021 but carried on
through Zoom meetings while boycotting the 2020 legislative vote — as well
as the ad hoc boards for CITGO and the “parallel” Venezuelan Central Bank
(BCV) in order to continue controlling foreign-held frozen assets worth
billions.

The opposition groups reportedly also seek to focus on primary elections
scheduled for mid-2023 ahead of the 2024 presidential vote (although it
could be held earlier) after failing to oust Maduro through coups and
sanctions. The Venezuelan president was democratically elected for a
six-year term in 2018 and only Washington and its allies alongside the
ever-faithful corporate media have refused to recognize this.

Whether the US-backed right-wing forces will manage to choose a unitary
candidate remains to be seen. They famously burned all the electoral books
in their 2012 primaries before the last presidential election in which they
participated and there are also other opposition factions that have
completely disentangled themselves from Guaidó and the extreme right-wing
camp while running for office and carrying separate talks with the Maduro
government.

In the end, the imaginary “interim government” might continue under Guaidó
or some committee, the government-opposition talks might move forward or
not, and more Venezuelan frozen funds might be released next year or not.
All we know for sure is that regime change remains a priority for
Washington, be it through "democracy programs" or sanctions that will
continue killing Venezuelan children.
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