Dignity sanctioned
The U.S. has made sanctions their main weapon before resorting to war, invasions, and bombing

Elson Concepción Pérezaugust 20, 2019 15:08:41

 

 

 

 

 

The Venezuelan people are defending their revolution. Photo: Granma Archives
With an old trick, the U.S. sanctions other countries by targeting Presidents or officials not subservient to their interests. Now the total blockade of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is “against Maduro” and not meant to harm the people. Shameless!

This argument, which not even the hateful John Bolton believes, is the media message they are attempting to impose, along with the supposed support of some 50 countries, and the “legitimacy” of an imposter like Juan Guaidó, who applauds the attack on his own people.

The plan is not new. The blockade of Cuba has been in place for more than 60 years. First, the sanctions were “against Castro” – they said – while clarifying that they did not intend to affect the Cuban population. The word “affect” is misused, because what has been attempted is starvation, but the verb “to surrender” is not used in our country.

Cuba has never believed these lies, or those disguised as carrots. Fidel, a loyal follower of Martí’s ideas, understood well the entrails of the beast.

The sanctions, the total blockade, suspension of purchases of our products, persecution around the world to sanction those who trade with Cuba, threats and even armed intervention, terrorist attacks of all kinds, financing of mercenaries within the country, radio and TV broadcasts directed toward our territory, among other hostile actions, ran into a wall of dignity and resistance.

Many of them, with new names and more money, are still used in the 21st century.

To subjugate Cuba, Washington called upon misguided Europeans, who eventually bowed down and imposed a so-called “common position” to make the blockade even more cruel.

It is no accident that U.S. governments have made economic and financial sanctions their main weapon before resorting to war, invasions, and bombings. And it is no coincidence that peoples resist, overcome, and never lower their flags.

In the case of Venezuela, as with Cuba and Nicaragua, the U.S. has used as a front for their policy the discredited Organization of American States, which after the failures, on orders from Washington, has formed the so-called Lima Group, in which representatives of some governments parrot the notion that the sanctions are not directed against the people, but against Maduro.

IN CONTEXT:

Once the U.S. blockade of Venezuela was formalized on August 5, via an Executive Order issued by President Donald Trump, the anti-Chavista media and political representatives launched a whitewashing campaign.

The assets which the measure mainly affects (the Citgo oil company) are not owned by the government, but by the state. And this means that, ultimately, they belong to the nation. To all Venezuelans.

Citgo and other properties in the United States do not “belong” to the government, although it is responsible for their administration and management.

But the story line of presenting the sanctions to the public, in this way, serves two objectives: removing Venezuelan society as a whole as the main victim of the recently declared blockade, while concealing the theft of assets that belong to all Venezuelans, valued at more than 20 billion dollars.

The Executive Order is causing a major disruption of economic and commercial relations with the Venezuelan state internationally, prohibiting any type of transaction for the import of basic goods to the country.

The desired consequences are clear: the undermining of Venezuela’s social protection system; the progressive dismantling of public services; and greater economic discomfort due to shortages and high costs of essential items like food and medicine.

But these obstacles and the impact on the population have been growing for years, under a cumulative logic … In this sense, the only feature that differentiates the scope of this Executive Order, from past efforts, is the legal seal given the economic, commercial, and financial blockade, begun in 2015.