Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil delivered a forceful condemnation of unilateral sanctions against his nation during the International Day against Unilateral Coercive Measures. Through his Telegram channel, Gil characterized the 1,042 specific measures targeting Venezuela as criminal acts designed to ‘break the will of a nation that has chosen the path of sovereignty under the leadership of President Nicolas Maduro and the power of the people.’
The senior diplomat detailed the multifaceted impact of these sanctions, noting they extend beyond harming the Venezuelan population to deliberately disrupting regional solidarity initiatives. Gil specifically cited the PetroCaribe program, an energy cooperation agreement that previously provided discounted oil to Caribbean and Latin American nations, as a casualty of these coercive measures.
Gil’s statement included a dual demand: the immediate cessation of economic pressure tactics and the removal of military threats hovering over Venezuela. ‘Together, we will defend our sovereignty and the rights of our people!’ the Foreign Minister declared, framing resistance as both national and international imperatives.
The Venezuelan official broadened his critique to include other nations subjected to economic warfare, particularly highlighting the six-decade United States blockade against Cuba. Gil described the Cuban embargo as an ‘inhumane blockade’ maintained with ‘total impunity’ despite mounting global criticism annually expressed through United Nations votes.
Gil concluded that the international day serves as a platform to ‘raise our voices against this crime that affects our peoples’ and demand the elimination of coercive measures engineered to provoke economic collapse in sovereign states.