During his speech at the summit of Heads of State and Government on “International Debt Architecture and Liquidity”, the Constitutional President of the Republic, Nicolás Maduro once again demanded the cessation of economic, financial and commercial blockades against Venezuela, actions which through the imposition of illegal and criminal unilateral coercive measures have generated a 99% decrease in national income.
The Venezuelan President categorically rejected this criminal practice, considering them “in violation of international law, of a progressive and systematic nature and which affect the entire Venezuelan population in an indiscriminate manner, constituting a flagrant attack against humanity”.
In his presentation to the world forum, developed through a videoconference, the Venezuelan Head of State assured that it is necessary to seek “alternative solutions to this prevailing neoliberal model that is based on competition and exploitation, as well as on the political ambitions of some powers. It is necessary to strengthen the course with initiatives based on solidarity and complementarity”.
In this sense, he reiterated Venezuela’s willingness to contribute to the search for solutions to the current crisis generated by the Covid 19 pandemic, starting with the transformation of the financial system and moving towards the reduction of inequality.
In addition, he called for a thorough review of debt conditions, in order to achieve the recovery of economies and prevent it from becoming “a weapon of control, blackmail and domination against our countries”, he said.
On the subject of the meeting and the initiatives on financing for development in the Covid-19 era, President Maduro recalled that “for the past year the world has been battling an unprecedented pandemic, whose economic and social consequences are still unpredictable.”
“In the case of the Latin American and Caribbean region, there has been a 7.7% contraction of the GDP in 2020, while poverty and unemployment rates have increased”, he pointed out.
He also pointed out that “In the world some 131 million people have fallen into poverty and in the global north, the paralysis of production and consumption has put some of the most powerful economies in the world into recession, while the social protection systems that exist in those countries, due to neo-liberalism, have proven to be a failure”.
In this respect, he assured that given the asymmetries imposed by the failed capitalist model “the Covid-19 in the rich countries will not be overcome until all the countries of the world have overcome it; the same will happen in the economic aspect, there will not be a global economic recovery until the last economy of the world has overcome this crisis and this forces us to a deep revision of the conditions of the debt”.
Respecting sovereignty:
He indicated that “more than a temporary suspension of the debt, a comprehensive restructuring is needed, without this meaning the cession of sovereignty. At the beginning of the pandemic there was an agreement among the G-20 for a moratorium on debt service by the poorest countries on their official debt. However, the reluctance of private creditors to join in this policy meant that this initiative was very limited in scope”.
He concluded by calling on the nations of the world to move towards reducing inequality. “It is urgent to create a community of a different destiny, of the common destiny of humanity. It is urgent to overcome the mistakes of neo-liberalism that have ruined the world. We will not get tired of saying it, that another world and another life are possible”.
Nicolás Maduro
@NicolasMaduro
“There will be no global recovery until the economies of the world overcome the crisis generated by the Pandemic. We are obliged to a profound revision of debt conditions, so that they do not become a weapon of blackmail and domination against our countries.”
