Philippine National Democratic Front condemns US coercive measure against Conviasa airline

The Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in Manila received a statement from the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), sent by Luis Jalandoni, which strongly condemns the last outrageous violation by the United States government to the national sovereignty of the South American country. In his letter, the representative of the NDFP mentions the unilateral coercive measure of the US government against the Venezuelan state airline Conviasa, by adding it along 40 of its aircraft to the List of Specially Designated Nationals of the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury. For the NDFP, these new actions allow the Trump Administration to take punitive measures against any U.S. or non-US citizen or company that deals with the Venezuelan airline, possibly affecting aircraft maintenance, refueling, insurance and a series of other operations. Passengers can also be penalized. Similarly, he emphasizes the statements issued by the Venezuelan economic Vice-president, Tareck El Aissami, who assured the 2,000 workers of the company that their jobs are safe, stating: “Nothing will stop us, nothing will demoralize us; on the contrary, we will continue to grow in the spirit of struggle and now Conviasa will become an ambassador for Bolivarian peace in the skies of the world”. The statement of the Sector Vice-president emphasized that, in addition to affecting passengers, the measure will also harm a variety of social programs, including the Plan Vuelta a la Patria, which has provided free flights for 20,000 Venezuelan migrants to return to the country, and the Mision Milagro, which brings patients from all over the region to Venezuela for free ophthalmologic surgery. The NDFP also stated, in particular, the recent statements by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who denounced the regime of coercive measures in Washington as «illegitimate and outrageous». In addition, he declared: «It is outrageous that the unilateral actions of the United States affect social and humanitarian projects». In this regard, the NDFP states that «the inspiration and legacy of Great Simón Bolívar and Commander Hugo Chávez continue to strengthen the Venezuelan people to affirm their independence and national sovereignty and to resist strongly and fight against the illegal intervention of the United States».