Report Finds US Sanctions on Venezuela Are Responsible for Tens of Thousands of Deaths

[PufPuf23]

Report Finds US Sanctions on Venezuela Are Responsible for Tens of Thousands of Deaths

This Year Will Be Much Worse, Authors Say, If Sanctions Continue

For Immediate Release: April 25, 2019

Contact: Karen Conner, [phone] x117, [e-mail]

Washington, DC ― A new paper from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), by economists Mark Weisbrot and Jeffrey Sachs, finds that economic sanctions implemented by the Trump administration since August 2017 have caused tens of thousands of deaths and are rapidly worsening the humanitarian crisis.

“The sanctions are depriving Venezuelans of lifesaving medicines, medical equipment, food, and other essential imports,” said Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of CEPR and co-author of the report. “This is illegal under US and international law, and treaties that the US has signed. Congress should move to stop it.”

The paper notes that the recognition by the Trump administration of a parallel government in January created a whole new set of financial and trade sanctions that are devastating to the economy and population. These new restrictions make it much more difficult to even pay for medicines and other essential imports with the limited foreign exchange that is available.

The authors also explain how the sanctions prevent an economic recovery from the country’s severe economic depression and hyperinflation. “Venezuela’s economic crisis is routinely blamed all on Venezuela,” said Jeffrey Sachs, co-author of the paper. “But it is much more than that. American sanctions are deliberately aiming to wreck Venezuela’s economy and thereby lead to regime change. It’s a fruitless, heartless, illegal, and failed policy, causing grave harm to the Venezuelan people.”

http://cepr.net/press-center/press-releases/report-finds-us-sanctions-on-venezuela-are-responsible-for-tens-of-thousands-of-deaths?fbclid=IwAR3666I6SrB0ysltr4TX7DP9x5SbzeajD269vHuYQRITaHjYiATcZCzU7XA