United States Sanctions have Killed more than 40,000 Venezuelan Civillians since 2017, All in the Name of Expanding Markets for Capitalism
The line being spewed out of the propaganda machine that is the United States Government and their loyal mainstream media is that sanctions against Venezuela are being implemented to punish their supposedly corrupt government led by so called dictator Nickolas Maduro. In reality, United States sanctions are being implemented against Venezuela as means to destabilize the country and force regime change. According to a Center for Economic and Policy Research study, "The sanctions are depriving Venezuelans of lifesaving medicines, food, and other essential imports...", the report goes on to state that these sanctions are "...illegal under US and international law, and treaties that the US has signed...".
The Center for Economic and Policy Research report states that the United States sanctions are illegal due to the fact that they are "...deliberately aiming to wreck Venezuelas economy and thereby lead to regime change...". The sanctions have also made the economic crisis in Venezuela exponentially worse by making it essentially impossible to stabilize the economy, this contributed to excess deaths of 40,000 civilians from 2017-2018. This is yet another reason why the US sanctions on Venezuela fit the definition of "...collective punishment of the civilian population as described in both the Geneva and Hague international conventions...".
Thanks to The Greyzone, we can find out that the United States Government knew exactly what they were doing while breaking international law. In a document published, and then retracted moments later by the United States Department of State, it revealed that the United States was proud of their policy against Venezuela, claiming it had "...effectively prevented the Venezuelan government from participating in the international market and has led to the freezing of overseas assets". The document listed what it called "key outcomes" of the United States sanctions, these outcomes were freezing $3.2 billion of Venezuelas overseas assets, and decimating Venezuelas oil production capabilities, decreasing their efficiency to 736,000 barrels a day for the month of March, "...substantially reducing government revenue".
According to the Center of Economic and Policy Research report, the sanctions implemented against Venezuela by the Trump administration since August 2017, "...resulted in a 'loss of $6 billion in oil revenue...", The State Department has congratulated itself though for providing, or attempting to provide about $20 million in humanitarian aid, this is little more than a bandaid being given to a gunshot victim, and we were the ones who fired the bullet. This has already resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Venezuelan civilians.
Why is the United States so interested in wreaking havoc in Venezuela? Global capitalism is the answer. Capitalism thrives off new markets, and as of 1998 when Hugo Chavez came to power through the Bolivarian Revolution, Venezuela has been almost completely closed off to the business interests of the American Empire. Aside from the Venezuelan oil the United States wants unfettered access to, American agrochemical companies also have their eyes on Venezuelan markets.
According to an article by Mint Press News, under the rule of Hugo Chavez in 2004, Venezuela cancelled Monsanto's plans to plant 500,000 acres of genetically modified soybean seeds. Since then, "Venezuela has been one of the few countries to fight Monsanto and other international agrochemical giants and win. However, since that victory - which was won under Chavista rule - the U.S.- backed Venezuelan opposition has been working to undo it", this comes as no surprise as the opposition is heavily backed by the United States, witch would love for its agrochemical giants to have access to Venezuelan markets. Mint Press states that "it is telling that the top political donors of those in the US...pushing regime change in Venezuela have close ties to Monsanto and major stakes in Bayer.".
The United States is backing the opposition hoping they will provide Bayer and Monsanto with new markets that are currently off limits to American business interests, this would be crucial for Bayer, as many of their products like the weed killing spray Roundup are beginning to come under scrutiny for causing cancer in countries all over the globe.
The United States is wreaking havoc in Venezuela by implementing illegal sanctions on their country. These sanctions break international law and have resulted in the deaths of over 40,000 innocent civilians, all in the name of creating new markets for global capitalism to profit from.