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José Antonio Gil Yepez, director of the Datanalisis survey and analysis center in Caracas. © Datanalisis

The US administration has frozen all the goods and interests of the Venezuelan government in the United States. Any transaction is also prohibited with people affiliated with the Maduro government. What will be the impact of these sanctions? Answer by José Antonio Gil Yepez, director of the Datanalisis polling institute and analysis center in Caracas.

RFI: The White House argues that these new sanctions - the toughest to date against the Maduro government - are aimed at speeding up regime change. But so far, US sanctions do not seem to have had an impact. How would it be different today?

José Antonio Gil Yepes : It's a bet. Russia, China, India and Turkey are still helping Nicolas Maduro's government today. But it is not clear that these countries have the economic capacity to support it alone for very long.

The Venezuelan opposition insists that the Venezuelan private sector will not be affected by these new sanctions that only target the public sector. Is this really the case?

The private sector is not directly targeted. But indirectly, there will obviously be effects on entrepreneurs because the Venezuelan economy is very dependent on oil and the state. It is a characteristic of our country. This model goes back several decades, before the arrival in power of Nicolas Maduro and even Hugo Chavez. So everyone will be impacted. But that may be the price to pay for a change of government.

► See also: Venezuela: the United States targets Maduro's son

The head of Venezuelan diplomacy explains that these sanctions will also penalize food imports.

This is a good excuse to justify to the public the distribution problems of CLAP (low-cost food cartons subsidized by the government, Ed). The liquidity problems of the Venezuelan state have already led to a decrease in the number of boxes distributed in recent months.

Caracas accuses Washington of " economic terrorism " after the freezing of Venezuelan property. Does this reflect a concern?

The Maduro government can not say anything else. This is part of the usual rhetoric. The impact of these sanctions will be very strong. The government is really concerned, it is afraid of what will happen. Because their ideological model is supported by corruption. If there is no money, the government is at the bottom of the wall. And it will increase even more, because I expect other sanctions very soon.

► See also: Guaido's Allies Call for Increased Pressure on the Maduro Diet