U.S. economist Mark Weisbrot underlined on Thursday the illegality and criminal nature of the unilateral coercive measures imposed by the U.S. Government on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in violation of the Charter of the united Nations and the fundamental principles of international law.
In his statement at the conference “Unilateral Coercive Measures: Disrespect for International Law, Serious Human Consequences,” Weisbrot condemned the «terrible economic damage» caused by sanctions in the South American country.
«You couldn’t have this damage without the sanctions. With all the mistakes the government could have made, you wouldn’t have this level of damage today without the sanctions,” he stressed.
In particular, he referred to a GDP reduction of over 75% since 2015. In March that year, the Barack Obama administration declared Venezuela «an unusual and extraordinary threat» to the U.S. national security.
«I’ve never seen anything like that in the world. It somehow resembles some war scenarios […] This devastating effect has been the clear result of sanctions, » he said.
Weisbrot also mentioned the human cost of these coercive measures, which represent crimes against humanity in the context of the Rome Statute and are imposed in order to force a regime change in the oil producing country.
«This is horrible in many ways because it has a very high human cost […] It causes devastating effects, and due to their illegality, they even are an act of war, » added Weisbrot.
The U.S. economist lamented the White House uses the excuse that Venezuela represents «an unusual and extraordinary threat» to the U.S. national security to justify sanctions.
The international conference “Unilateral coercive measures: Disrespect for International Law and Serious Human Consequences” was organized by the Venezuelan Government and the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations, and gathered for two days an important group of academics and experts in international law and human rights.