"Cause economic collapse": how the US is trying to destabilize the situation in Venezuela

Venezuelan authorities have accused representatives of the opposition, as well as the United States, of stealing $ 30 billion from the country’s accounts in the past two months. This was announced by the Minister of Communications and Information of Venezuela, Jorge Rodriguez. According to a Venezuelan official, this operation was organized by Parliament Speaker Juan Guaido, who proclaimed himself President of the country, and his associates Leopoldo Lopez and Roberto Marrero.

Marrero, whom Guaido called the head of his staff, was detained two days earlier by Venezuelan law enforcement agencies. He was charged with involvement in a terrorist group that planned attacks on Venezuelan officials. Also in his house was found a cache of weapons.

According to Rodriguez, out of the $ 30 billion stolen from Venezuela in international banks, one billion was transferred to the personal accounts of the opposition to "finance terrorism against the country."

Speaking to his supporters on March 24, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro stated that the “fiendish puppet” Guaido personally led the conspiracy to kill him. According to Maduro, the attempt was made with the help of the United States.

Sanctions and freezing of accounts

The political crisis in Venezuela has been going on since January 2019, when the speaker of the country's National Assembly, Juan Guaido, proclaimed himself president of the republic, declaring the illegality of the inauguration of Nicolas Maduro.

The United States and its allies immediately recognized the Guaido as the country's legitimate leader. In turn, Russia, China and a number of other countries still consider Maduro as the only legitimate president, and Russia's permanent representative to the Security Council, Vasily Nebenya, stated that the United States is attempting a coup d'état in Venezuela.

To put pressure on Venezuela’s leadership, the United States extended sanctions against the Latin American republic. On January 28, the United States imposed restrictive measures against the state oil company of Venezuela, PDVSA. A day later, the State Department announced that the accounts of the Venezuelan government and Cenobank frozen in the US were transferred to the control of Juan Guaiido.

In February, the US-based PDVSA subsidiary, Citgo, formally broke off relations with Venezuela’s state corporation.

Britain was connected to financial pressure on the Bolivarian Republic - according to Bloomberg, the Bank of England refused to give Venezuela the country's gold reserves worth $ 1.2 billion. On February 12, in an interview with the BBC, Nicolas Maduro called on the UK to return 80 tons of gold.

On February 21, Guaido reported on preparations for freezing Venezuelan accounts and in Swiss banks. At the same time supporters of the opposition said that Venezuela has another $ 3.2 billion in accounts in the US, which are not frozen yet, and expressed their readiness to take control of these reserves.

• globallookpress.com
• © Eddie Mulholland

On March 19, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions against the Venezuelan minerven state mining corporation, allegedly "for illegal gold trading." Three days later, BANDES bank controlled by the Venezuelan government, as well as the banks Banco Bandes Uruguay, Banco Bicentenario del Pueblos, Banco Universal SA Banco de Venezuela and Banco Prodem SA, fell under the sanctions.

"Our goal is to quickly end this crisis for the benefit of the people of Venezuela and to achieve a peaceful transition of power from the Maduro regime to the Guayido regime so that free and fair elections can be held," John Bolton, assistant to the US National Security Secretary, explained the reasons for the introduction of new sanctions.

At the same time, Bolton openly threatened to “financially strangle” Maduro and his supporters.

"Cynical policy"

“There is a hybrid war. The United States exerts total pressure on Venezuela from inside and outside in order to cut off all sources of income that allow Venezuela to raise funds for subsistence, to buy food and medicine, ”the dean of the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President told RT in an interview RF Alexander Chichin.

• Hospital in venezuela
• AFP
• © Yuri Cortez

The efforts of the United States have produced results. Due to the economic blockade and the harsh pressure of the sanctions in the country there is an extremely difficult situation in the health sector. As the executive secretary of the Venezuelan Healthcare Workers' Federation, Pablo Zambrano, said on the eve, the shortage of drugs in the country was 85%, of consumables — 90%.

Previously, Maduro accused US President Donald Trump of stealing $ 5 billion from Venezuela. According to the leader of the Bolivarian Republic, this money should have been spent on the purchase of medicines.

The government promises to solve the problem at the expense of products of the local pharmaceutical industry and supplies from Russia, which began in February. However, at the moment, the situation in health care remains critical.

Moreover, humanitarian aid, which the US sent to Venezuela with pomp and camera sights in February (then the Venezuelan government refused to accept the cargo), according to representatives of Caracas, was overdue. About this in an interview with the newspaper "Izvestia" said the ambassador of Venezuela in Russia, Rafael Faria Tortosa.

“The big American show is to cut off all revenues to the state, impose all sorts of sanctions, freeze reserves in banks, and offer a crust of bread in a noble way,” Boris Martynov, head of the department of international relations and foreign policy of Russia, commented on the actions of the United States. - It’s time to get used to the hypocritical policies of Western countries and, above all, the USA. A cynical policy built on the principle of “the end justifies the means”. Under the cover of noble slogans, weapons and expired medicines are delivered to the country. ”

"Will rock the boat"

According to experts, all US actions against Venezuela are now aimed at solving only one task - to overthrow from the post of President Nicolas Maduro.

“The US will continue to rock this boat in an attempt to create an economic collapse in Venezuela. When the shortage of resources turns out to be catastrophic, public demonstrations can give rise to serious public discontent, which will provoke mass unrest within the country, ”says Alexander Chichin.

According to the expert, Washington hopes that “the most difficult financial situation can lead to a social explosion. True, the expert notes, while their protege Juan Guaido is just “a pawn who could not get into the queens”.

"Now the army is strong in its support for Maduro, and most of the population is on his side," the political scientist said. But in the future, he warns, as economic difficulties increase, the position of the legitimate government will weaken.

Boris Martynov, by contrast, believes that "time is now working for Maduro."

"The coup d'etat is done right away, or it starts to slip and eventually fails," the political analyst notes. - Maduro keeps and will hold. And his opponents have no choice but to resort to sneaking blows. ”

• Nicolas Maduro speaks to supporters
• Reuters
• © Miraflores Palace