COVID 19 & the Economic War against Venezuela

Monday, August 17, 2020 - 1:00pm
Andrés Eloy Ruiz & Sair Ramses Sira Méndez

In the midst of the pandemic, the war against Venezuela has been escalating. U.S. sanctions have driven Venezuela’s oil exports to their lowest levels in nearly 80 years, starving President Nicolas Maduro’s government of its main source of revenue. In mid-July, U.S. Special Envoy Elliott Abrams threatened to “go after” shipping companies that continue to transport Venezuelan oil.

On July 2, a decision by the U.K.’s High Court blocked the Venezuelan Central Bank’s efforts to repatriate gold reserves being held by Bank of England on the pretext that the U.K. recognizes U.S.-backed Juan Guaidó--an opposition figure who has appointed himself “interim president”--as Venezuela’s leader. The government had planned to sell the gold, valued at an estimated US $1.2 billion, and transfer the proceeds to the United Nations Development Programme in order to import food, medicines and healthcare equipment needed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Venezuela remains one of the countries in the region least devastated by the pandemic--so far. However, cases are rising steadily and, stripped of much-needed economic resources, the Venezuelan healthcare system is struggling to save human lives in the midst of the crisis. Despite the sanctions and aggressive Washington policy, the Bolivarian Revolution remains committed to building a new society based on human solidarity and the interests of the majority.

Counsel Minister Andrés Eloy Ruiz and First Secretary Sair Ramses Sira Méndez from the Venezuelan Embassy provide an update on the situation in Venezuela.

UPCOMING TOURS

March 3, 2025 to March 7, 2025

We will depart from San Miguel early in the morning to Patzcuaro, where we will spend three days. We will visit the most important buildings and churches in Patzcuaro and also visit a number of nearby indigenous villages:

Upcoming Forums & Films

Monday, January 13, 2025 - 1:30pm
CST
Jeff Faux
Location:
Join in Person at the Hotel Quinta Loreto Community Room

We are a week before the inauguration of an unstable megalomaniac, totally unfit to be president. His loyalists control the Congress and the Supreme Court. And his stated agenda could destroy American constitutional democracy.  Yet his political opposition hasn’t a clue how to respond.

The issue is not whether the Democrats... Read more

Monday, February 3, 2025 - 1:00pm
CST
José Alfredo Gutiérrez Falcón
Location:
Join in person at the Hotel Quinta Loreto Community Room

While much of the world is shifting to the right, Mexico is moving in a progressive direction. In 2018, the electoral victory of Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA party) initiated "The Fourth Transformation" which is working, against entrenched opposition,... Read more