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<div class="header reader-header reader-show-element"> <font
size="-2"><a class="domain reader-domain"
href="https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Venezuela-Arreaza-Slams-US-for-Criminal-Blockade-20190426-0015.html">https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Venezuela-Arreaza-Slams-US-for-Criminal-Blockade-20190426-0015.html</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">Venezuela: Arreaza Slams US for
'Criminal' Blockade</h1>
April 26, 2019</div>
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<p><br>
The United States Treasury sanctioned <a
href="https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/US-Sanctions-Have-Taken-Thousands-of-Venezuelan-Lives-Says-Arreaza-to-UN--20190425-0023.html"
target="_blank">Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs
Jorge Arreaza </a>Friday, who condemned the move and
denounced what he described as "criminal" acts by the
U.S. against the oil-rich Latin American country.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em><strong>RELATED: <br>
<a
href="https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/US-Sanctions-Killed-Over-40000-Venezuelans-Since-2017-20190425-0015.html"
target="_blank">US Sanctions Killed Over 40,000
Venezuelans Since 2017</a></strong></em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>The Office of Foreign Assets Control, a financial
intelligence and enforcement agency of Treasury
Department, designated Jorge Arreaza and Judge Carol
Bealexis Padilla de Arretureta as targets of fresh
sanctions April 26.</p>
<p>"There are reactions that confirm that we are on the
right path and give us more STRENGTH to fight. Yesterday
at the UN, we irrefutably denounced the US criminal
blockade against Venezuela. Today the Trump
administration responds with desperation against us. The
TRUTH hurts!" Arreaza tweeted Friday just after the U.S.
treasury made the announcement.</p>
<p>At a United Nations meeting Thursday, Arreaza said that
the unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States
are not against officials, but against the general
population. </p>
<p>The same day, a study co-authored by world-renowned
economics professor at Columbia University, Jeffrey
Sachs, and co-founder of the Center for Economic and
Policy Research (CEPR), Mark Weisbrot, was released and
found that U.S. imposed sanctions on Venezuela have led
to the unnecessary medical deaths of over 40,000
Venezuelans since August 2017. </p>
<p>“The sanctions are depriving Venezuelans of lifesaving
medicines, medical equipment, food and other essential
imports,” write Weisbrot and Sachs. “This is illegal
under international laws and treaties that the U.S. has
signed. Congress should move to stop it,” insist the
experts.</p>
<p>Arreaza reported that in the coming days President
Nicolas Maduro will announce the creation of a registry
to "keep track of the effects our people are suffering
as a result of the blockade" imposed by the U.S.
President Donald Trump's administration.</p>
<p>The report also indicates that the Venezuelan
government is unable to access over US$20 billion of its
own funds and gold because of the U.S. sanctions.</p>
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<blockquote data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Some reactions confirm that
we walk the right path. It gives us more STRENGTH
for the struggle. Yesterday, we denounced the US
criminal blockade against Venezuela at the UN.
Today, the Trump administration responds with
desperation against us. TRUTH hurts! <a
href="https://t.co/MuTdjfwPIb">https://t.co/MuTdjfwPIb</a></p>
— Jorge Arreaza M (@jaarreaza) <a
href="https://twitter.com/jaarreaza/status/1121810908295172097?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April
26, 2019</a> </blockquote>
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<p>Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin claimed Friday in
an official press release that “the United States will
not stand by and watch as the illegitimate Maduro regime
starves the Venezuelan people of their wealth, humanity,
and right to democracy.” </p>
<p>“(The) Treasury will continue to target corrupt Maduro
insiders, including those tasked with conducting
diplomacy and carrying out justice on behalf of this
illegitimate regime. This Administration stands with the
Venezuelan people, and alongside an international
coalition committed to holding accountable those who are
responsible for Venezuela’s tragic decline,” he added.</p>
<p>In an advisory released September 20, 2017, just after
the Trump administration doubled down on sanctions that
began during the Barack Obama presidency, the U.S.
Treasury Department said: "Venezuela faces severe
economic and political circumstances due to the rupture
of democratic and constitutional order by the government
and policy choices.<a
href="https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Cuban-Top-Diplomat-John-Bolton-Is-a-Pathological-Liar-20190425-0016.html"
target="_blank"> Endemic corruption</a>, such as that
seen in Venezuela, can further damage its economic
growth and stability."</p>
<p>According to the CEPR report the sanctions have blocked
an "estimated 80,000 people with HIV" to not have access
to their antiretroviral treatment since 2017. "Another 4
million with diabetes and hypertension ... cannot obtain
insulin or cardiovascular medicine," because of U.S.
actions.</p>
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