St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves speaking at the ALBA TCP summit in Havana, on Friday, said, he stands shoulder to shoulder with the people of Venezuela.
Gonsalves denounced the sanctions that affect the Venezuelan people and the pressures from the United States on other governments so that they join its policy.
“We have to be tough on these attitudes,” he added, as he worries that the US is facing challenges in the world and its influence is diminishing.
We all agree to these principles that we expose in this conclave, Gonsalves said.
“Some consider that if they go to the summit of the Americas they can represent the position of the excluded, and I understand that but I’m afraid that if they do that, they make us sing to make it all pretty, but nothing concrete”.
We’re going to be running in circles, he warned.
Gonsalves reported that he received Biden’s invitation, but “as a matter of principle I will not attend.”
Next week I will have this debate with the people of the Caribbean, he stated.
For over 15 years, the United States has imposed sanctions in response to what they say are illegal activities of the Venezuelan government.
The earliest sanctions imposed were related to Venezuela’s lack of cooperation in anti-drug and counterterrorism efforts. The Obama Administration imposed targeted sanctions against individuals for what they call human rights abuses, corruption, and anti-democratic actions.
The Trump Administration expanded economic sanctions on the South American nation in 2013 and further tightened sanctions on Venezuela’s state oil company (Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., or PdVSA), central bank, and government to pressure Maduro to leave power.
As of May 23, 2022, the Treasury Department had imposed sanctions on roughly 166 Venezuelan or Venezuelan connected individuals and the State Department had revoked the visas of more than 1,000 individuals and their families.
Despite these actions, Maduro remains firmly in power. While Venezuela is benefiting from high oil prices due to the Ukraine conflict.