{"id":68908,"date":"2021-06-12T16:45:08","date_gmt":"2021-06-12T20:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=68908"},"modified":"2021-06-12T16:56:50","modified_gmt":"2021-06-12T20:56:50","slug":"why-is-the-global-health-system-being-used-as-a-geopolitical-weapon-by-the-usa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=68908","title":{"rendered":"Why Is the ‘Global Health System’ Being Used as a Geopolitical Weapon by the USA?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Venezuela Says US Sanctions Blocking COVID Vaccines: ‘Global Health System’ As Geopolitical Weapon<\/h1>\n

by Brett Wilkins
\nCommonDreams.org<\/p>\n

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy\u00a0Rodr\u00edguez has accused the US-backed international financial system of\u00a0blocking the country’s access to Covid-19 vaccines under the COVAX program<\/strong>, even though Venezuela has paid all but $10 million of the $120 million it owes.<\/p>\n

Appearing in a televised address, Rodr\u00edguez\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0Venezuela was unable to pay the remaining $10 million because it was being blocked from transferring funds to the Switzerland-based GAVI Vaccine Alliance, which directs COVAX.\u00a0“The financial system that also hides behind the U.S. lobby has the power to block resources that can be used to immunize the population of Venezuela,”<\/strong>\u00a0she\u00a0said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Via Reuters<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza\u00a0tweeted<\/a>\u00a0a letter from COVAX stating that it “received notification from UBS Bank” that four payments, totaling just over $4.6 million, were\u00a0“blocked and under investigation.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Arreaza said that “Venezuela has paid all of its commitments,” adding that “the bank has arbitrarily blocked” the country’s final payments and calling the situation “a crime.”<\/p>\n

The vice president and foreign minister’s remarks follow accusations from Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro last week that\u00a0“organizations of US\u00a0imperialism” are engaged in an effort to stop vaccine producers from selling doses to the country.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Venezuela might be the only country in the world that is subject to a persecution against its right to freely purchase vaccines,” said Maduro,\u00a0according to<\/a>\u00a0Venezuelanalysis<\/em>. “Venezuela is besieged so that it cannot buy vaccines.”<\/p>\n

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A mural in Caracas symbolically shows Venezuela and Russia uniting to defeat the coronavirus, with the caption: “We will beat Covid-19 together.” Image: AFP via Getty<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Successive US\u00a0administrations have targeted Venezuela with economic sanctions that critics say have devastated the nation’s once-thriving economy and have caused tremendous suffering for the poor and working-class people whose\u00a0dramatic uplift<\/a>\u00a0was once hailed as the great success of the Bolivarian Revolution launched under the late President Hugo Ch\u00e1vez.<\/p>\n

According to a 2019 report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a progressive think tank based in Washington, D.C.,\u00a0as many as 40,000 Venezuelans have\u00a0died<\/a>\u00a0due to sanctions<\/strong>, which have made it much more difficult for millions of people to obtain food, medicine, and other necessities.<\/p>\n

Maduro also denounced the World Health Organization (WHO) for its role in delaying vaccine delivery to Venezuela. The president had expected “many millions” of the Covid-19 jabs to be delivered in July and August. “The COVAX system owes a debt to Venezuela,” asserted Maduro. “We made a deposit in April and we are waiting for the vaccines.”<\/p>\n

That\u00a0$64 million deposit<\/a>\u00a0to GAVI came after a rare deal between the Maduro administration and Juan Guaid\u00f3, the\u00a0coup leader<\/a>\u00a0recognized by the United States and dozens of other nations as Venezuela’s legitimate head of state despite never having been elected.<\/p>\n