The Minister of People’s Power for Food, Carlos Leal Tellería, asked this Tuesday the United Nations Conference for Food and Agriculture, FAO, to intercede to achieve the cessation of unilateral coercive actions and the economic blockade applied against the Venezuelan people:
«Even amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, the United States government has applied persecution, extortion and blockade to prevent Venezuela from accessing resources, goods and essential services to meet the needs of the population”, he denounced.
In his speech at the 42nd session of the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Leal Tellería recalled that in 2015 the undernourished population in Venezuela was decreased to less than 5%, earning FAO recognition as a highly food-secure nation.
However, he assured that there is a systematic campaign of aggression, promoted by the United States Government and its allies, against the right to food of the Venezuelan people.
He assured that the blockade has generated an 83.7% drop in food imports, preventing the purchase of raw materials, finished products and inputs for agricultural production.
Blockade is a crime against humanity:
In this context, he asked FAO to intervene to end this economic blockade, describing it as a crime against humanity: «a violation of international law and of all the provisions that prevent the use of food as an instrument of war, destabilization and destruction».
He reiterated Venezuela’s commitment to meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, highlighting the creation of a food security model aimed at guaranteeing it as a human right, as reflected in the Magna Carta of the South American nation.
For this reason, he praised the efforts to maintain the social food programs of the Bolivarian Government, such as the formation of 36,315 Local Supply and Production Committees (CLAP), which reach more than 74% of the country’s families, the School Food Program (PAE) that ensures access to food for 80% of children in schools and Food Houses, which serves «more than 700,000 vulnerable people in 3,679 soup kitchens throughout the country» each month.