The independent expert of the United Nations Organization (UN) on the Promotion of an International Democratic and Equitable Order, Alfred de Zayas, affirmed that Venezuela does not suffer a humanitarian crisis.
“I have compared the statistics of Venezuela with that of other countries and there is no humanitarian crisis, of course there is shortages and lack of supplies, but whoever has lived and worked for decades for the United Nations and knows the situation of countries in Asia, Africa and some countries in the Americas, knows that the situation in Venezuela is not that of a humanitarian crisis”, he said in an interview with Telesur held on Tuesday.
The independent expert arrived in Venezuela on November 27, and held meetings with Government officials and victims of the violence of the “guarimbas” (riots) promoted by sectors of the opposition between April and July last year, in order to learn about the political, economic and social situation of the country.
He explained that although many people think that the country is on the verge of disaster, as media outlets try to make see, “Venezuela suffers an economic war, a financial blockade, suffers a high level of smuggling and, of course, needs international solidarity to solve these problems”.
He also believes that the international community should work in solidarity with Venezuela to lift the sanctions: “Because precisely these sanctions are worsening the shortages of food and medicine.”
The expert affirms that the current discourse of humanitarian crisis on the part of US spokespersons, besides being invalid, only pursues the change of the Venezuelan Government, led by President Nicolás Maduro.
To prepare the report on the situation in Venezuela, Zayas traveled to visit sectors of the opposition, Fedecámaras, civil society and Church. He spoke with 16 government ministers, visited the Social Missions and supermarkets in order to learn about the Venezuelan reality, as notes Telesur in its web portal.
