{"id":330563,"date":"2021-09-29T17:09:17","date_gmt":"2021-09-29T17:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/?p=371705"},"modified":"2021-09-29T17:09:17","modified_gmt":"2021-09-29T17:09:17","slug":"u-s-sanctions-blamed-as-venezuela-laments-frozen-order-for-medicine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/09\/29\/u-s-sanctions-blamed-as-venezuela-laments-frozen-order-for-medicine\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Sanctions Blamed as Venezuela Laments Frozen Order for Medicine"},"content":{"rendered":"
A $12.7 million order<\/u> of critical medicines and medical supplies, placed by Venezuela\u2019s development bank with the Pan American Health Organization, has been held up for more than two months as an indirect result of U.S. sanctions. The request, frozen by the Portuguese bank Novo Banco, covers more than 30 million syringes; 6 million vaccines against measles, mumps, and rubella; 5.5 million diphtheria and tetanus vaccines; 2 million polio vaccines; and 1 million yellow fever vaccines. It comes as the country has struggled with a punishing economic crisis and has battled notable upticks in vaccine-preventable disease in recent years \u2014 diphtheria and measles<\/a>, in particular.<\/p>\n When faced with criticism over its sweeping sanctions<\/a> against Venezuela, the U.S. government often points to the broad humanitarian exemptions<\/a> in place, which it says allow for the free flow of food and medicines to those in need. But as the ongoing dispute over medical shipments illustrates, that\u2019s not always the case.<\/p>\n According to documents shared with The Intercept, the Lisbon-based Novo Banco has for several weeks declined to approve a transfer from a Portuguese lender to the Pan American Health Organization, or PAHO, a public health agency affiliated with the World Health Organization.<\/p>\n Novo Banco did not respond to a request for comment. But according to critics within European Parliament, the stalled transaction is evidence of both the extensive reach and adverse effects of U.S. sanctions against Venezuela. Tightened under the Trump administration and left in place by President Joe Biden, these restrictions weigh heavily on banks and financial institutions \u2014 even those operating outside U.S. borders.<\/p>\n Novo Banco\u2019s delay<\/u> is part of a much larger conflict the bank has with the Venezuelan government. Starting in early 2019, after opposition lawmaker Juan Guaid\u00f3 declared himself the country\u2019s interim president and quickly earned recognition from the U.S. and the European Union, financial institutions across Europe froze assets belonging to the government of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro or closely linked to it. These entities included Venezuela\u2019s state-run oil company and its the public development bank, known as Bandes<\/a>.<\/p>\n The sum\u00a0includes<\/a> roughly $1.7 billion<\/a> at Novo Banco, a bank created in 2014 during Portugal\u2019s most recent financial crisis. One quarter of the bank\u2019s ownership belongs to Portugal\u2019s Resolution Fund<\/a>, a special state-backed fund to help stabilize banks. The other three quarters are owned<\/a> by the American private equity firm Lone Star.<\/p>\n