Russian Federation: Rather than wars and sanctions, we must focus on mutual supplies of medications and food

The Russian Federation warned on Friday, April 17, that the United States is trying to impose a naval blockade on Venezuela under the pretext of blocking alleged drug trafficking. “We have to revisit the issue of the US blockade around Venezuela, which is ostensibly aimed at blocking drug trafficking from that country,” reads the comment issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. The comment also explains that “Washington’s accusations and grievances against Caracas are false.” “We believe they do not correspond to reality in any way and hardly match the conclusions and assessments of relevant UN agencies,” reads the comment, as the UN Office on Drugs and Crime praised Venezuela in its World Drug Report published in June 2019 for its steps to stop drug trafficking. The comment issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation reads as follows:

COMMENT BY THE INFORMATION AND PRESS DEPARTMENT ON THE BUILDUP OF US MILITARY ACTIVITY AROUND VENEZUELA UNDER THE PRETEXT OF BLOCKING DRUG TRAFFICKING CHANNELS

We have to revisit the issue of the US blockade around Venezuela, which is ostensibly aimed at blocking drug trafficking from that country. Our analysis makes it clear that Washington’s accusations and grievances against Caracas are false. We believe they do not correspond to reality in any way and hardly match the conclusions and assessments of relevant UN agencies. Thus, in its World Drug Report published in June 2019, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime praised Venezuela for its national steps to curb the illegal traffic of cocaine from Colombia to the US. In 2017, Venezuela ranked fourth in the world in the amount of confiscated cocaine. Only 7 percent of drugs smuggled to North America pass through Venezuela. It is necessary to note the Venezuelan law enforcement crackdown on drug laboratories in the regions bordering on Colombia. Importantly, in the said report, UN experts praise the Venezuelan Government for its success in ensuring Latin America’s lowest level of drug use. Their conclusions are buttressed by the 2019 report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB). Its authors wrote about the adoption of Venezuela’s new anti-drug strategy and major seizures of cocaine in that country. Against this background, we would like to again draw the attention of our American colleagues to the proposal made by the President of Russia at the G20 summit, notably, to renounce trade wars and sanctions amid the COVID-19 pandemic and focus on mutual supplies of medications, food, equipment and technology. We believe that mutual aid and solidarity rather than the deployment of squadrons and saber-rattling must become the foundation of international cooperation in this difficult time.