Venezuela Brings to UN Geopolitical Map of Economic Sanctions

The Venezuelan Government presented this Thursday at the UN headquarters in New York the Geopolitical Map of Economic Sanctions. It consists of a digital tool to consult information on Unilateral Economic Measures (U.E.M.) imposed by the U.S. and the European Union (EU) against countries around the world. 

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The high-level event, on the sidelines of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, was headed by the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Yván Gil, and the Permanent Representative of Venezuela to the United Nations, Ambassador Samuel Moncada.

On the occasion, the criminal imposition of these measures, which mainly affect smaller nations with scarce resources, was denounced. The population of at least 30 countries in all continents has been affected by the imposition of U.E.M., commonly used by the U.S. Government and the EU. 

The Venezuelan ambassador to the UN said that these types of sanctions are tools "for the control of weak nations by nations that have a dominant position in the world economic system." He added that they are "weapons of mass destruction" because they "slow down the development of entire peoples and nations," especially of the most vulnerable people, such as children, the elderly and the sick.

In this sense, Moncada proposed the creation of an "international zone free of sanctions" that would be formed by "countries that do not recognize" these measures.

The tweet reads, "Venezuelan Deputy Minister of Anti-Blockade Policies William Castillo Bollé: -On behalf of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela it is our duty to present the Geopolitical Map of Sanctions, a project born in Venezuela that seeks to strengthen information on the phenomenon of unilateral coercive measures and other measures of economic aggression against sovereign States-"

The Vice Minister of Anti-Blockade Policies and General Director of the Venezuelan Anti-Blockade Observatory, William Castillo, pointed out that unilateral economic measures are illegal and violate the UN Charter, the right to development and the enjoyment of human rights of the peoples. 

He stressed that they constitute another of the methods used by the powers to prevent States from exercising their sovereignty, together with political-communication aggression of various kinds, war and others. Castillo explained that the impact of U.E.M. goes beyond the daily limitations they impose on individuals in almost all spheres of life, in light of the extraterritorial implications they entail.

Representatives from Russia, China, Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua, Belarus and Eritrea attending the presentation congratulated Venezuela for its initiative.

The Geopolitical Sanctions Map was conceived by the Caracas Anti-Blockade Observatory. Its creation dates back to 2020 and took place in accordance with the provisions of Venezuela's Constitutional Anti-Blockade Law for National Development and Guarantee of Human Rights.

Among the nations with the highest number of unilateral economic measures imposed are Russia, Iran, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Iraq, Belarus and Cuba. As of August 2023, a total of 26,162 U.E.M. weighed on 30 nations and, of these, 96% (25,152) are concentrated in these nine countries.