(AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
(AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Today, the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) joins with 115 organizations and individuals in Venezuela in calling on the Trump administration to refrain from aggravating Venezuela’s deep humanitarian crisis. In an open letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the signatories urge the U.S. government to refrain from ending exceptions on sanctions that currently permit the state oil company to trade crude oil in exchange for diesel.
This decision would have devastating consequences for a population already suffering from a deep humanitarian emergency. In Venezuela, diesel is primarily used for power generation and bulk cargo transport—including food, medicine, and humanitarian supplies. Cutting off access to diesel in the country could worsen living conditions for millions of Venezuelans dependent on a crumbling supply chain.
Signatories to the letter, which include Veneuzelan civil society groups such as Acción Solidaria, the Venezuelan Education-Action Program on Human Rights (PROVEA), the Venezuelan Association of Christian Health Services (AVESSOC), and many others, point out that such a measure would have the following impacts:
It is important for the international community to reject authoritarianism and support Venezuelans’ calls for free and fair elections. But the simple truth is that additional restrictions on fuel imports to Venezuela would only aggravate the suffering of the Venezuelan people, while bringing the country no closer to a democratic transition.