UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet says US sanctions could deepen ‘devastating’ Venezuelan crisis
- Trump administration came down hard in late January with sanctions aimed at depriving Maduro of billions in hard cash from oil production
The United Nation’s high commissioner for human rights said Wednesday that recent US sanctions that are aimed to topple Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro threaten to deepen the nation’s crisis.
Commissioner Michelle Bachelet told the Human Rights Council of the UN that Venezuela’s “pervasive and devastating economic and social crisis” started before the US first levied sanctions.
But more recent sanctions hitting the state-run PDVSA could “contribute to aggravating the economic crisis, with possible repercussions on people’s basic rights and well-being,” Bachelet said.
The Trump administration is joined by some 50 nations around the world that back opposition leader Juan Guaido, who declared he was assuming presidential powers as head of the National Assembly, vowing to oust Maduro.
The US has sanctioned Maduro and dozens in his administration, but the Trump administration came down hard in late January when the US Treasury targeted PDVSA, aimed at depriving Maduro of billions in hard cash from oil production.
Maduro says the US is leading a coup aimed at stealing the world’s largest oil reserves, which Venezuela possesses. The socialist leader maintains support from countries such as Russia, China and Cuba.