Venezuela's New Anti-Blockade Law To Protect Foreign Investment

Venezuela's recently approved constitutional anti-blockade law will protect foreign investment in the country, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said on Tuesday.

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Accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Jorge Arreaza, Rodriguez held a videoconference for the diplomatic corps in Caracas to explain the scope of the anti-blockade law.

The new legal tool aims to offer "new ways" to partner with international investors by "providing special forms of information protection, to protect those who come to invest in Venezuela, to protect their investment, their assets," Rodriguez said.

The law allows Venezuela "to take a step forward, to go on an economic offensive" against the U.S.-led sanctions that are strangling the economy, she added.

The government now plans to unveil a "basket of projects" for foreign investors in such areas as oil, gas, mining, agriculture, tourism, and "all areas where Venezuela has great potential to generate large-scale investment," Rodriguez said.

"The first thing this law did was to declare illegal any type of unilateral, restrictive, or punitive coercive measure against Venezuela. We do not recognize them, they do not exist in our territory," Rodriguez said.

While in Washington "they speak of human rights," said Rodriguez, "their policies are aimed at restricting the happiness of an entire nation."