BARBADOS | Mia Mottley calls for the removal of economic sanctions against Venezuela by the United States

MONTEGO BAY,  Jamaica, July 10, 2023 - Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley has called for the removal of unilateral economic sanctions imposed on Venezuela by the United States and other countries that has led to the crippling of that country's economy bringing levels of hardship on the Venezuelan population.

In a statement following her first ever visit by a Barbasdian head of government to Venezuela over the weekend, Prime Minister Mottley said not only were these sanctions illegally imposed, they have severely damaged the nation of Venezuela, and the welfare and wellbeing of the people of Venezuela.

Prime Minister Mottley notd that the sanctions they are also destroying the prospects of development for countries like Barbados and the rest of CARICOM because they are making it difficult for these countries to have relations with Venezuela.

The Barbados Prime Minister pointed out that the sanctions,  first issued by U.S. President Barack Obama by presidential order on 9 March 2015, were are also making it difficult for Venezuela to relaunch the Petrocaribe  Energy  cooperation programme that can bring so much relief and developmental resources to CARICOM countries. At the time, Obama declared Venezuela a "threat to its national security"and ordered the United States Department of the Treasury to freeze property and assets of seven Venezuelan officials.

While the US continues to threaten  regional countries  that want to have a lucrative trading relationship with Venezuela, at the very same time, the United States has given special permission to the US Multinational Oil Corporation, Chevron, to do business with Venezuela and purchase Venezuelan oil and benefit from Venezuela’s resources while seeking to deny that same privilege to other entities and other countries.

During the crisis in Venezuela, governments of the United States, the European Union, Canada, Mexico, Panama and Switzerland applied individual sanctions against people associated with the administration of Nicolás Maduro.

It is being mooted that the United States has no legal right to impose those sanctions as these are properly the province of the United Nations Security Council.

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