Press Conference at the United Nations by Jorge Arreaza, Minister of the People’s Power for Foreign Affairs, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on the situation in the country. (In English). Available in Floor language (Spanish) on the UN Web TV website: http://webtv.un.org/watch/press-confe…
Published on United Nations, Feb 12, 2019 _________________________________________________________________________________________
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said “there is no humanitarian crisis” in his country adding that the economy was facing a blockade. Arreaza told reporters in New York today (12 Feb) that his government was able to recover one million tons of food in Venezuela and was distributing food adequately on a daily basis. He said, “let us not give in to the show of CNN, Fox News, broadcasting live from a bridge” connecting his country to Colombia; “We are talking about a bridge that has always been closed. It has never been opened. The Tienditas bridge that you see on TV has never been operational.” The Foreign Minister said his discussions with UN chief Antonio Guterres yesterday included deepening cooperation with the United Nations agencies working in Venezuela in those sectors affected by what he called the international economic warfare being waged against his country. He called on the UN and the world to promoting lifting US sanctions on his country, adding that the recovered funds would then be used to address the needs of people in Venezuela. Responding to a question on whether his government would allow humanitarian aid into Venezuela, Arreaza asked in reference to the United States, “So, really? A government that is threatening you with the use of force, threatening you with an invasion, that gives orders to other countries to block you, do they really want to provide you with humanitarian aid? Please, for God’s sake. Let’s be serious that would be absurd. This is a hostile government that is killing you, and then they want to help you out.” The Foreign Minister said the Venezuelan opposition was “betting on civil war, violence, and on a coup d’etat.” However, he said, “Now they are our brothers and sisters, all of them, leaders, deputy Guaido, all of them. They are our Venezuelan compatriots, and brothers and sisters. It is our duty to sit down with them to dialogue. But there is a whole body there. There is a mechanism that was created, the mechanism of Montevideo, which was created very carefully, with a very clear methodology, by neutral countries, who were concerned about Venezuela’s situation. Let’s sit down. We can use the Montevideo mechanism, the Caracas mechanism. With the constitution many things are possible.” The Foreign Minister said his government was “waiting for the opposition of Venezuela to sit down” with it. He said the Venezuelan opposition needed to undergo a “process of independence and decolonization” from the US but noted that the majority of “the militants of the opposition, and many millions of Venezuelans are against any position that would weaken our sovereignty; they want dialogue, internally amongst us.”
