The Maduro regime reacted today to a joint statement issued two days ago by 53 nations at the United Nations Human Rights Council denouncing the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, and calling on the regime to accept international aid.
According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the joint statement is little more than an attempt to “exacerbate interventionism against Venezuela”, and is not grounded on any facts. The document also suggested that the joint statement was orchestrated by the United States government.
The ministry’s response also claims that the information that available to the international community on the Venezuelan crisis–which comes from reports compiled by human rights organizations and international organizations like the UNHRC–is incorrect. The ministry’s document reads:
We deplore the fact that this Council is trying to lend credence to illegal, unilateral pseudo-reports without mandate from Southern countries [sic], with the goal of setting a dangerous precedent here.
The document also erroneously claims that United States sanctions “prohibit Venezuela from… purchasing medicine, food and goods produced in other countries”, when in fact no sanctions prohibiting any of those activities exist.
The ministry also concludes that the countries who issued the joint statement “do not have the moral authority” to speak on the Venezuelan crisis.
Guild: Medical Import Capacity At 25%
The Asociacion Venezolana de Distribuidores de Equipos Medicos, Odontologicos, de Laboratories y Afines [AVEDEM], a medical industry guild made up of companies that distribute medical equipment, said today that Venezuela’s capacity to import medical equipment is sitting at 25%. According to AVEDEM, out of the 117 companies that import medical equipment registered in the country, only 40 are operation today.
Blaming the ongoing economic crisis for the collapse of the industry, AVEDEM also painted a grim picture of the status of the remaining 40 companies:
The companies do not have dollars. Their personnel has left the country, and healthcare centres do not have the capacity to maintain or replace damaged equipment.
Antonio Orlando, an AVEDEM representative, told Cronica Uno that the last time that medical equipment arrived in Venezuela was in August of last year. That shipment included “a few” electrocardiographic monitors.
Francisco Valencia Speaks on Healthcare Crisis at the University of Toronto
Francisco Valencia, the head of the Coalicion de Organizaciones por el Derecho a la Salud y a la Vida [Coalition of Organizations for the Right to Health and Life] (CODEVIDA), spoke yesterday on the healthcare crisis in Venezuela at an event at the Centre for Criminology & Sociolegal Studies at the University of Toronto.
Valencia, whose NGO helps Venezuelans access medicine and medical supplies, was awarded the Human Rights Award by the Canadian embassy in Caracas earlier this year for his
… tireless work and outspokenness to denounce the humanitarian crisis that Venezuela is experiencing.
During his talk, Valencia argued that the humanitarian situation in Venezuela has gone from crisis to emergency, and that CODEVIDA was unable to meet the overwhelming demand for assistance that it receives. Valencia thanked the Venezuela diaspora community for all of the support that it has provided CODEVIDA and other NGOs in Venezuela, and called for even greater cooperation and organization to this end.
Below, an image of Valencia speaking at yesterday’s event:
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