Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza to Sputnik: 'Normalizing the violation of international law is barbarism' - MPPRE

Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza to Sputnik: ‘Normalizing the violation of international law is barbarism’

The Foreign Minister of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Jorge Arreaza, speaks in an exclusive interview with Sputnik, following the decision of the US government to extend the decree that declares the Bolivarian country a threat to the United States. Relations with the European Union and the role of China and Russia were also discussed in the interview.

The US government just extended the executive order declaring Venezuela an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to the security of the United States. What has Venezuela done to make the United States consider it a threat? And what does the extension of this decree mean to your country?

Venezuela does not represent a threat to any people in the world. That is an absolute fallacy that has been ideologized against Venezuela since 2015, and to our country it means that the dominant elite in the United States is extending its capacities to continue imposing unilateral coercive measures, limiting the production capacities in Venezuela, the capacities to import medicines, food, harming and inflicting suffering in Venezuela. That’s what this extension implies.

Recently, the Secretary of State of the United States said that they will no longer promote “democracy with military interventions” and, in turn, called Juan Guaidó to speak about the “return of democracy in Venezuela.” What do you expect from the Biden administration?

As for military operations, I would say in the words of Santo Tomás: “We need to see to believe,” and I hope so. As for what to expect from Blinken and the United States, I would say in the words of Jose Gervasio Artigas, the great Uruguayan: “We do not expect anything from anyone, only from ourselves.” We will move forward regardless of what Washington does or does not do in relation to Venezuela.

Relations with the European Union are also going through difficult times after the imposition of sanctions against Venezuelan officials. Is it Venezuela against the world or all of them against Venezuela? What is going on, Foreign Minister?

The corporate capitalist system does not want to allow a country with the resources of Venezuela to develop its own model and not be hooked on that capitalist system and the governments that express that system, such as Washington or the European governments. They reject the possibility that we can make our own destiny, and they try to block our progress and advancement by all means. That is actually the bottom of the problem, both with the United States and Europe, and with any country that responds to corporate interests.

Recently, the former ambassador of Venezuela to the European Union, Claudia Salerno, denounced in an interview with our news outlet that Spain, Germany, France and the Netherlands were the ones who were exerting pressure within the European Union to impose more sanctions against Venezuela. Is that so? What interest would these countries have in destabilizing Venezuela?

The information we have is that those four countries were indeed the ones that exerted the most influence this time. We do not know the exact reason. I do not know what they gain by destabilizing Venezuela with sanctions. In any case, it is a position of the European Union, and we have rejected it in a comprehensive manner. They will not succeed, nor will the United States, in preventing us from resolving our own issues among Venezuelans in peace, in democracy. They will not be able to prevent us, despite their many attacks, from fully reactivating our economy and our productive capacity.

How have these sanctions of the European Union and the economic and financial blockade of the United States affected Venezuela?

Yes. You have to differentiate them. The US measures against the economy in general, the oil industry, the Central Bank of Venezuela, and the persecution against third parties that supply to Venezuela or export from Venezuela, of course have a greater impact that affects 30 million Venezuelans and all areas of society.

The UN Human Rights Rapporteur’s report on the impact of sanctions on human rights is very clear, lengthy and rigorous, and you can turn to it to see the effects.

The sanctions of the European Union have a more political nature, but they are directed against Venezuelan democracy and institutions. It tries to harm the prestige of Venezuela, to deny Venezuela access to international financing, to corner Venezuela on the basis of political accusations. When a Finance Minister or a Vice-president is sanctioned, it affects the republic’s capacities to reach agreements, to meet with investors. All the people sanctioned by the European Union cannot travel to European territory, and it affects commercial exchange and the business that can be done. So, being the sanctions of the European Union on a different level, they have a direct political impact and lead to economic consequences against Venezuela.

The recent visit of the Spanish Foreign Minister to Colombia caused a new tension between Spain and Venezuela, and President Maduro ordered an in-depth review of relations with Spain. What’s the status of that? Are relations being reviewed, or have the waters calmed? Why did Venezuela consider this visit an aggression?

From Colombia, all the destabilizing plans against Venezuela, operations with US and Venezuelan mercenaries and paramilitaries, and the so-called humanitarian aid have been organized, planned and financed with the support of the Government of Mr. Duque. There are training camps in Colombia, right now as we speak, to attack Venezuela, especially on the border with Venezuela, in the department of Norte de Santander [Colombia] and in Táchira, Venezuela. There is a very complex situation of violence and aggression. They have used the Venezuelan migration to attack Venezuela. The Spanish Minister can visit any country she wants. She can go to Colombia. What we have rejected, and what the president has criticized, is her visit to Cúcuta to meet with the Colombian foreign minister, who has attacked us to the fullest, to include Venezuela in a visit that had nothing to do with Venezuela.

The relations between Spain and Colombia are relations between Spain and Colombia. It was an unnecessary visit to Cúcuta, politically directed against Venezuela, and we are in a review process. In his capacity, the president has a number of measures he may or may not take at his discretion because he is the one who manages the international relations of the Republic.

But the Spanish minister insists that her interest is to favor dialogue between the internal forces in Venezuela.

Well, she can want what she wants, but what she does is a different thing. The Spanish State is giving shelter to a terrorist like Leopoldo López. They gave him shelter in their embassy, and later in their territory. They promote sanctions against Venezuela from the European Union. Spain is among the four most active countries to achieve this, and then they resort to this kind of gesture such as the visit to Cúcuta, an absolutely unnecessary visit that represents an offense to Venezuela. So, it would be good if the Spanish minister had a bit of consistency with what she claims she wants and what she does.

In less than three months, Leopoldo López has already met twice with former President Álvaro Uribe, who is accused of promoting paramilitarism in Colombia, and who once said that if he had had more time, he would have bombed Venezuela. In addition, as denounced by the president of the Venezuelan Parliament, members of the Venezuelan opposition just met with officials from the US and Colombian governments in Bogotá. What could Venezuela expect from these meetings in Colombia?

The worst. This is the worst combination: Colombia, the United States and Leopoldo López. The only thing that can be expected [from that meeting] is violence, aggression, death, coups d’état. Our security forces, our armed forces, law enforcement and intelligence agencies are at the highest level of alert to prevent new aggressions from Colombia.

Russia and China have always opposed measures that violate Venezuela’s sovereignty, and we have seen in recent months that while the US and the EU have imposed sanctions, China and Russia have reached out to address the health emergency due to the coronavirus with shipments of vaccines and medical supplies. Some in Europe say that this is the new diplomatic strategy of China and Russia to gain influence. How do you value it?

We place great value on it, because in the face of the US blockade, which also has great influence throughout the region, as it has the control of trade and the financial system, and in the face of the aggressions from the European Union, we have relied on the support from Russia, China, Turkey and other countries in the world, and from Cuba, of course, to address the pandemic. Without this support, it would have been impossible for Venezuela to do it. We must also highlight the support that the United Nations has given us through the WHO and the Pan-American Health Organization.

I don’t know. You can do the geopolitical analysis you want, but, without a doubt, what Russia and China have done is nothing else than respecting the United Nations Charter. In that letter, in any manual or resolution of public international law, there is not one single thing endorsing unilateral coercive measures and blockades politically aimed at making an entire nation suffer. Therefore, by respecting international law, they are helping Venezuela. It is nothing more than that.

Venezuela is not the only country affected by an economic blockade or sanctions. We have the case of Cuba, which has been blocked for 60 years; or Iran, Syria, and even Russia, which from time to time are sanctioned either by the US or by the European Union. As an internationalist, where do you think the world could be heading if the application of measures that violate the basic principles of International Law is normalized?

We would be facing barbarism. That’s why we have reacted. I can tell you that the “sanctioned” countries, targeted by unilateral coercive measures, keep contact to confront them not only in the diplomatic and political field, but also in practice, to design our own exchange, payment, financial transaction processes, and to learn from each of these countries as some of them have been blocked for a longer time, as you said, like Cuba, Iran, Zimbabwe, and now Venezuela with a very high dosage [of sanctions] in recent years that is equivalent to a great experience too. Russia and China have been targeted by sanctions, as well as other countries in the world. We are forming a group of countries to face this situation, and we are also exerting pressure on the United Nations to avoid this and make the appropriate decisions in the relevant institutions to prevent such flagrant violations, blockades and unilateral coercive measures, from being normalized and accepted as they lead to many human and humanitarian consequences.