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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15323">venezuelanalysis.com</a>
<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">UN Expert Releases Full Report on Impact of US-led Sanctions Against Venezuela</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">By Andreína Chávez Alava - September 18, 2021<br></div>
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<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div><p>Guayaquil, Ecuador, September 18, 2021 (<a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/">venezuelanalysis.com</a>)
– United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur Alena Douhan presented a
19-page report detailing the negative consequences of US-led sanctions
on the Venezuelan people.</p>
<p>The document compiles Douhan’s complete assessment of her 12-day visit to the Caribbean country in <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15123">February</a>. Presenting the findings at the 48th UN Human Rights Council session on September 15, the independent expert <a href="https://twitter.com/CancilleriaVE/status/1438166185019731973">reiterated</a>
that the wide-reaching sanctions program against Venezuela has had a
“devastating” effect on the entire population’s living conditions.</p>
<p>Douhan went on to explain that Venezuela’s pre-existing economic and
social crisis was exacerbated by the imposition of “sectoral sanctions
on the oil, gold and mining industries” as well as “the <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/images/15295">economic blockade</a> and the freezing of the Central Bank assets.”</p>
<p>Consequently, the country’s revenues, essentially from <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/images/15301">oil exports</a>,
were significantly reduced, affecting “public electricity, gas, water,
transport, telephone and communication systems, as well as schools,
hospitals and other public institutions.”</p>
<p>The Belarusian lawyer added that the threat of extraterritorial and
secondary sanctions has led to “over-compliance by banks and
third-country companies,” amplifying the negative impact of primary
sanctions. Furthermore, she argued that the “humanitarian exemptions
appear to be ineffective and insufficient” to alleviate the crisis.</p>
<p>The special rapporteur concluded that unilateral sanctions against
Venezuela are politically motivated, undermine the most fundamental
human rights and violate <a href="https://twitter.com/UN_HRC/status/1438167137860915202">international law</a>. She urged the US and its allies to lift all coercive measures.</p>
<p>Douhan additionally acknowledged the Nicolás Maduro government's
“greater engagement” with UN agencies and NGOs to provide humanitarian
aid to the population.</p>
<p>Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Félix Plasencia likewise <a href="https://twitter.com/PlasenciaFelix/status/1438180853662633989?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1438180853662633989%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Forinocotribune.com%2Fun-rapporteur-denounces-negative-impact-of-sanctions-on-venezuelan-people%2F">participated</a>
in the 48th UN Human Rights Council session and welcomed Douhan’s
report. “The Special Rapporteur made it clear that these measures, in
the form of <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/14645">collective punishment</a>, are international crimes that threaten the Venezuelan people.”</p>
<p>On Wednesday, over 800 human rights organizations and social movements released a <a href="https://twitter.com/SuresDDHH/status/1437451779076206594">statement</a> supporting recent calls for sanctions relief, including by the UN Human Rights Chief <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15320">Michelle Bachelet</a>.</p>
<p>Venezuela has been under crushing US sanctions since 2017 when Washington <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/13330">targeted</a> state oil company PDVSA. Between 2019-2020, the US Treasury Department imposed an <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14268">oil embargo</a>, a <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14615">blanket ban</a> on all dealings with Caracas, and shut down fuel and diluent imports and <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15040">swap deals</a>. Additionally, Washington levied <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14791">secondary sanctions</a> and a host of other measures, including freezing or <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/tag/citgo">seizing</a> a number of Venezuelan assets abroad.</p>
<h3>Right to food and wages</h3>
<p>In her report, the UN independent expert emphasized that “the drop of
oil revenues, exacerbated by the sanctions, provoked a food and
nutrition crisis,” with <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14894">food</a> availability decreasing by an estimated 73 percent as imports fell between 2015 and 2019.</p>
<p>As a result, more than 2.5 million Venezuelans are severely food
insecure, while the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recorded a
“213.8 percent increase in undernourishment or chronic hunger.”</p>
<p>Douhan’s report also warned of “the precarious purchasing power of workers,” with the <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/15236">average salary</a> estimated at US $2-10 per month covering around 2 percent of the food basket.</p>
<p>However, the special rapporteur acknowledged the government’s efforts to alleviate the crisis with a range of <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/15183">social benefits</a>, including the distribution of subsidized food through the <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15147">CLAP</a>
program. The latter reportedly assists 7.5 million households but has
reduced its staples after imports were targeted by the US Treasury
Department.</p>
<h3>“Disastrous” health situation</h3>
<p>The Belarusian lawyer stated that sanctions have blocked transactions
aimed at acquiring medicine. “This prevented the purchase of blood
reagents in 2020 for 2.5 million patients and 123,000 others in need of
blood transfusions, according to the Ombudsman’s Office.”</p>
<p>Moreover, the blocked purchases affected 5,859 people suffering from
hemophilia and Guillain-Barré syndrome and impeded 180,000 surgery
operations for lack of antibiotics, anesthetics and tuberculosis
treatment.</p>
<p>The insufficiency of basic medicines and their rising prices have
likewise placed some 300,000 people at risk. At the same time, 2.6
million children have been deprived of vaccines for meningitis,
rotavirus, malaria, measles, yellow fever and influenza.</p>
<p>Other concerns are the increase of teenage pregnancies and HIV/AIDS
cases. Currently, 80,000 out of an estimated 120,000 HIV/AIDS patients
had to suspend their treatment for lack of drugs, the report expressed.</p>
<p>Additionally, hospitals reported that only 20 percent of the
equipment is functioning due to the inability to acquire spare parts.
The UN expert documented two specific cases: The Children’s Heart
Hospital did fewer than 120 surgeries in 2020 (the standard was around
1800), and the J.M. de Los Ríos Paediatric Hospital in Caracas had to
suspend kidney transplants for 137 children.</p>
<p>Douhan’s findings likewise highlighted that Washington’s seizure of
PDVSA's US-based oil subsidiary CITGO halted the company's humanitarian
program. As a result, 14 children have <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15269">died</a>
after not receiving liver, kidney and bone marrow transplants in
hospitals abroad. Another 53 are awaiting the resumption of the
state-funded Simón Bolívar foundation.</p>
<h3>Deteriorated public services</h3>
<p>During her visit to Venezuela, Douhan attested that all public
services are working at half of their capacity since the US-led
imposition of coercive measures.</p>
<p>According to Venezuelan government officials cited in the report,
only 50 percent of the water system’s distribution units were running
and “water had to be distributed in rotation to ensure delivery to all.”
The use of chemical agents to treat and purify water was reduced by 30
percent, causing health problems.</p>
<p>The text went on to explain that Venezuela is producing “only 40
percent of the electricity it needs, and electric lines work at less
than 20 percent of their capacity.” In the country’s southwest region,
“75-80 percent of electricity could not be produced because thermo-power
machines were damaged and needed to be repaired.” The situation was
aggravated by alleged <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/15281">cyber-attacks</a> against the electrical grid in 2019.</p>
<h3>Gasoline and diesel scarcity</h3>
<p>The special rapporteur concluded that the Caribbean nation was on the brink of a “catastrophic situation” due to acute <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/video/15061">fuel shortages</a>.</p>
<p>Douhan warned that <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/15225">diesel scarcity</a>
has endangered “agriculture production, transportation of food,
electricity generation, water pump operation, public transport, transit
and ambulances.”</p>
<p>At the same time, <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/video/15061">gasoline shortages</a>
have resulted in higher transportation prices, blocked access to
hospitals and schools, and aggravated food and medical supplies
distribution, especially to the country’s remote areas.</p>
<h3>Access to education</h3>
<p>The government’s limited financial resources to buy and repair
necessary infrastructure has led to shrinking Internet coverage, with
reportedly only 10 percent of the territory accessing the service. In
the pre-sanctions era, the range stood at 50-90 percent.</p>
<p>The Belarusian lawyer’s report likewise pointed that the higher costs
of Internet access and ongoing power shortages have affected online
teaching since the breakout of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to
university researchers, an estimated 80 percent of students in public
schools cannot overcome these obstacles.</p>
<p>Another consequence of the sanctions was the suspension of the government’s <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/7647">Canaima program</a> in 2020, which produced and distributed 6,5 million tablet computers to 14 million students.</p>
<h3>Migration and brain drain</h3>
<p>The tightening of sanctions has led to unprecedented migration
numbers. The UN expert report, citing a host of sources (including the
Venezuelan government), placed the figure between 1.2 to 5.6 million by
May 2021.</p>
<p>The accelerated <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/15277">migration</a>
caused a brain drain, with most state companies and public services
losing 30-50 percent of their personnel, including “doctors, nurses,
teachers, university professors, engineers, police officers, judges,
technicians and many others.” This resulted “in internal
disorganization, <a href="https://venezuelanalysis.com/tales-resistance/15242">increased workloads</a> for remaining staff, reduced services and a decline in their quality.”</p>
<p>Special Rapporteur Alena Douhan’s visit to Venezuela is the first out
of ten scheduled for the next two years as part of an agreement between
the Nicolás Maduro government and the UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights signed in 2019.</p>
<p><br>The full text of Douhan's report can be found <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/venezuela-bolivarian-republic/report-special-rapporteur-negative-impact-unilateral-coercive">here</a>.</p>
<p><em>Edited by Ricardo Vaz from Mérida.</em></p>
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