Contributor: Sanctions make Venezuela earthquake losses much worse

More than 3,800 people were killed in the double earthquake that struck Venezuela on June 24, and 16,700 others were injured, according to current government reports. A medical crisis emerged for thousands of survivors, and 17,800 were left homeless.

There are heartbreaking reports of people trying to pull survivors out of the rubble by hand, while dozens of children suffer from amputations because they cannot be reached in time.

At a time like this, Venezuelans and the international community should not be struggling to end the sanctions that have devastated the country’s economy and hampered its recovery, nor to give the country access to billions of dollars in assets it owns. But we do so because the role played by sanctions and frozen assets has received too little public attention.

From 2012 to 2020, Venezuela suffered what was likely the most severe economic contraction in a depression without war. International Monetary Fund data show a 74% decline in GDP during that period. This is a loss of income about three times greater than what people experienced here in the United States during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

This was not a natural disaster like an earthquake, but rather a man-made disaster. International Monetary Fund data show that 88% of this loss occurred in the wake of US economic sanctions that began in 2015. The devastation accelerated with Trump’s sanctions, starting in 2017, which cut the country off from most international financing and then from the vast majority of its foreign exchange earnings. These shocks would have pushed almost any country into a severe crisis, and that is exactly what happened, showing the world how sanctions can truly destroy an economy.

As a result, Venezuela was already facing a humanitarian crisis before the earthquakes struck. According to European Commission data, before June 2026, 7.9 million people (out of a population of 28.5 million) were in need of humanitarian assistance. Forty percent of Venezuelans were facing moderate to severe food insecurity, and about 56 percent of the population lived in extreme poverty. 86% of them relied on polluted water sources.

Nearly half of Venezuela’s doctors, many health professionals and other skilled workers — including 200,000 teachers — have left the country as the economy collapses.

A study I co-authored with Francisco Rodriguez and Silvio Rendon, the results of which were published last July in the Lancet Global Health journal, estimates that broad unilateral sanctions like these – most of which are imposed by the United States – cause the death of an additional 564,000 people annually. This is similar to the lives lost around the world due to armed conflicts. It is estimated that the majority of these deaths were among children under the age of five.

The death rate among Venezuelans rose throughout the recession in Venezuela, with more than 100,000 additional deaths during the years (2015-2020) from the economic collapse that imposed the sanctions.

Venezuela has vital resources that it is not allowed to access. The United States and Europe prevent the country from obtaining more than $11 billion in US dollars that Venezuela must legally have. There is about $4 billion in the Bank of England. They were frozen there from Venezuela’s central bank as part of a regime change effort in 2019, led by the United States. Of course, the UK has no right to seize and hold these Venezuelan-owned assets.

There is about $4.5 billion in the IMF in international assets (called Special Drawing Rights), which is Venezuela’s share of allocations allocated to member states in 2021. Access has been blocked as part of the push for regime change, but the United States removed Venezuela’s president in January and has since recognized Venezuela’s current government. The International Monetary Fund followed suit. But it is not clear how much of these assets Caracas will be able to use, and when. Venezuelans need this money – as well as the gold held by the UK – right now in order to save lives, avoid the spread of disease and rebuild.

Another few billion dollars are being held by the Trump administration, despite an executive order stating that these funds “constitute the property of the government of Venezuela.” This is money from the sale of Venezuelan oil, which the Trump administration has taken control of.

The United Nations now estimates that the post-earthquake reconstruction of Venezuela will cost about $37 billion, which is a huge amount for this country, or 33% of its current gross domestic product. Economists and other researchers have called for the lifting of Venezuela’s “ongoing economic and financial sanctions, asset freezes” and, by way of celebration, “onerous debt burdens.”

There is a need to end economic sanctions. The US Treasury has issued a four-month license allowing earthquake relief, but that is hardly enough. The Central Bank of Caracas remains subject to sanctions, and this will continue to interfere with the post-earthquake recovery.

It is also documented that important financial transactions and even relief work can be prevented due to so-called “over-compliance.” Banks, financial institutions and other companies are avoiding transactions because of real and perceived risks caused by sanctions, including the ambiguity of US executive orders that allow them.

Venezuela’s biggest life-saving measure in the near future after the earthquake will come from convincing the world’s biggest players — the United States along with its European partners — to stop blocking access to Venezuela’s assets worth billions of dollars. And stop causing further damage and loss of life through economic sanctions.

This is how these sanctions actually work. They target and punish civilian populations in pursuit of a political goal. Once relatively rare, such attacks have become a “tool of first resort,” according to the US Treasury Department – perhaps because the deaths they result from are often invisible.

But more people every year, including members of Congress, who acknowledge the economic violence, collective punishment and deadly humanitarian consequences of these sanctions, are pushing back on them. As the illegitimacy of these sanctions and their resulting human toll grows, the US government will increasingly be forced to abandon them.

Mark Weisbrot is co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research and author of Failure: What Experts Got Wrong About the Global Economy.

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos