{"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

<\/div>\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

\"GettyImages-1233363274-venezuela\"<\/a>\n

A nurse takes a break at the nursing station of the University Hospital, one of the most important in the training of doctors in the country, in Caracas, Venezuela, on June 3, 2021.<\/p>\n

\nPhoto: Pedro Mattey\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p><\/div>\n\n

Though the EU has no longer<\/a>\u00a0recognized Guaid\u00f3 as Venezuela\u2019s president since January, the impasse has dragged on at Novo Banco. According to a July ruling from a Lisbon judge, the Portuguese lender is explicitly authorized to approve transactions from Bandes, so long as the transactions get approval from a judge beforehand. That\u2019s precisely the process Venezuela\u2019s development bank aimed to initiate this summer.<\/p>\n

On July 22, Bandes requested approval from Novo Banco to send the roughly $12.7 million order to PAHO. To reduce fears of violating U.S. sanctions and maximize the chances of getting the green light from a judge, Bandes proposed conducting the transfer in Brazilian reais and depositing the money directly into a PAHO account based in Brasilia. It also included information about the medicine and supplies in question.<\/p>\n

Two months later, however, Novo Banco has yet to give the thumbs-up. On September 15, Bandes President H\u00e9ctor Andr\u00e9s Obreg\u00f3n P\u00e9rez sent a follow-up letter to Novo Banco CEO Antonio Ramalho, urging him to move forward on the transaction, noting that the payment is \u201curgent\u201d and for \u201chumanitarian reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/iframe>\n \n

Now Novo Banco\u2019s<\/u> inaction is triggering criticism outside of Venezuela. A group of\u00a024 European Parliament members plan to release a letter Thursday calling on the Portuguese lender to move ahead with the Venezuelan order for medicines. The letter, shared ahead of public release with The Intercept, argues that \u201cthere is no legal or extralegal obstacle that would preclude a Portuguese bank from making a transfer of Bandes\u2019 own funds in Brazilian reais directly to a Brazilian bank account in order to pay for humanitarian supplies.\u201d<\/p>\n

The group also laments that \u201cEuropean banks continue to be over-compliant\u201d with U.S. sanctions against Venezuela in spite of efforts \u201cto clarify that humanitarian aid is perfectly permissible and even desirable.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a critique similar to the one made by the Progressive International, which earlier this year organized<\/a> a conference highlighting<\/a> the adverse effects of U.S. sanctions on public health \u2014 and in particular, the global fight against Covid-19.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe case of Novo Banco makes it clear: sanctions kill,\u201d James Schneider, communications director of the Progressive International, told The Intercept. \u201cPresident Joe Biden and the G7 love to speak about the need for \u2018solidarity\u2019 in the face of a global pandemic. Yet their economic policies shut entire countries out of access to basic life-saving medicines and protect the profits of their pharmaceutical corporations ahead of the lives of everyday people dying of Covid-19 and other diseases.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the\u00a0U.S. State Department\u00a0declined to\u00a0comment.<\/p>\n

For its part, the Treasury Department\u2019s Office of Foreign Assets Control \u2014 or OFAC, the agency that oversees enforcement of sanctions \u2014 maintains that various restrictions on doing business in Venezuela do not block civilians from accessing much-needed food and medicine. In August 2019, even after the Trump administration tightened sanctions as part of its so-called maximum pressure policy against Maduro, OFAC issued a guidance<\/a> stressing that \u201cthe flow of humanitarian goods and services to the Venezuelan people is not prohibited by U.S. sanctions.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Nevertheless, financial institutions sometimes go above and beyond what\u2019s legally required, shying away from authorizing certain transactions out of an abundance of caution or fear of risking hefty penalties. As The Intercept reported<\/a> earlier this year, for instance, the Venezuelan government blamed U.S. sanctions for hampering its ability to access Covid-19 vaccines through COVAX, the global vaccine-sharing initiative backed by the World Health Organization. (At the time, the State Department rejected the notion that it bore any responsibility.) In any case, Venezuela finally received its first shipment<\/a> through COVAX this month. It was the last country in South America to get it.<\/p>\n

Alena Douhan, the United Nations\u2019 special rapporteur on unilateral coercive measures and human rights, has also drawn attention to the issue. In February, she issued a preliminary report<\/a> on the effects of foreign sanctions on Venezuela, calling existing humanitarian exemptions \u201cineffective and inefficient\u201d and arguing<\/a> the \u201cdevastating effect\u201d of sanctions is \u201cmultiplied by extra-territoriality and over-compliance.\u201d Douhan has also specifically singled out Novo Banco: In July, she sent a letter<\/a> to the bank alongside other U.N. officials in which they criticized the presence of \u201cgrowing over-compliance, zero-risk policies\u201d and reminded the Portuguese lender that EU member states are prohibited from complying with U.S. sanctions.<\/p>\n

While debates rage over who bears responsibility, it\u2019s clear the broader economic and public health picture in Venezuela remains bleak. More than 5 million people<\/a> have fled the country in recent years, according to the U.N.\u2019s High Commissioner for Refugees. According to the U.S. government\u2019s own USAID<\/a> agency, 7 million Venezuelans are in need of humanitarian assistance.<\/p>\n

Thus far, the Biden administration has shunned<\/a> calls<\/a> to significantly change the Trump-era approach to Venezuela. In a joint statement issued<\/a> in June alongside the EU and Canada, the U.S. has said it would consider easing sanctions on Venezuela if \u201cmeaningful progress\u201d is made in talks between opposition figures and the government. This month<\/a>, representatives from Guaid\u00f3 and Maduro\u2019s camps have held two rounds of negotiations in Mexico City mediated by Norway. As November\u2019s regional elections approach, Maduro has applauded<\/a> progress in talks, while a statement<\/a> issued by Norway\u2019s foreign ministry Monday said that the \u201ctwo sides\u2019 positions moved closer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post U.S. Sanctions Blamed as Venezuela Laments Frozen Order for Medicine<\/a> appeared first on The Intercept<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

This post was originally published on The Intercept<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of Portugal\u2019s largest banks is holding up a $12.7 million order to fund shipment of medical supplies and vaccines to Venezuela.<\/p>\n

The post U.S. Sanctions Blamed as Venezuela Laments Frozen Order for Medicine<\/a> appeared first on The Intercept<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2784,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[340],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330563"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2784"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=330563"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330563\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":331092,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330563\/revisions\/331092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=330563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=330563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}