$22 Billion Worth of Venezuela’s Assets Remain Frozen by Sanctions
Orinoco Tribune, Spetember 1, 2023 —
The Venezuelan Anti-Blockade Observatory has reported that over $22 billion belonging to Venezuela remains blocked in various international financial systems, due to the unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States.
The information, published via social media this Wednesday, August 30, was released by the Venezuelan Deputy Minister of Anti-Blockade Policies, William Castillo, who pointed out that this amount currently resides “in private banks and in multilateral organizations.”
Castillo added that of this amount, $5 billion was supposed to be part of Venezuela’s special drawing rights—an international reserve asset created by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) designed to “supplement a state’s economy”—and was approved by the IMF “to activate the post-pandemic economy.”
However, the money never reached Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV), because the IMF—a notable Global North regime change mechanism—claimed that it did not know who the president of Venezuela was.
Castillo also made a reference to the 31 tons of gold—equivalent to $2 billion—that have been kept seized by the United Kingdom since 2019, as “the UK government recognized Juan Guaidó as the interim president,” Castillo added.
93 Venezuelan foreign accounts frozen
The minister further reported that 93 of Venezuela’s foreign accounts have been blocked from Venezuelan access, despite the fact that the money belongs to public agencies and companies of the country.
Of the total number of accounts, 29 are in foreign banks. “These are liquid and semi-liquid resources that could be used for education, health, and welfare missions,” Castillo noted.
Global impact of sanctions
Castillo also spoke about worrying figures regarding the impact caused by sanctions in the world, and the terrible consequences suffered by the peoples of sanctioned countries.
The minister explained that “30 countries, making up 28% of the global population and 72% of the territory of the planet, are subjected to a total of over 26,000 sanctions by the US, the European Union, and their allied territories.”
The study from the Venezuelan Anti-Blockade Observatory reveals that Russia is at the top of the list of sanctioned countries, subjected to more than 17,000 unilateral measures, followed by Iran with almost 2,500 sanctions, Syria with more than 1,300 sanctions, Ukraine with 1,200 sanctions, and Venezuela with 930 measures.