Venezuela is in the news constantly. There is a well orchestrated campaign by the Western media that the country is facing a humanitarian crisis and is on the verge of falling apart. Voices are also heard of the need for outside interference. All options including armed aggression are proposed openly, ostensibly under the pretext that the situation in Venezuela threatens the security of the United States.
Columbia has become a willing collaborator of the United States. It has amassed armed detachments along the Venezuelan border. Brazil is also vying to join Venezuela in a military confrontation. On the other hand, Venezuela has defense cooperation with Russia and China who are likely to come to its assistance in case of war. An all-out media war exists with fake news proliferating at lightning speed.
The Third World media simply reproduces the news and views of the west and the gullible public believes in everything they say. Hence, we produce below without comment another side of the story as told by a UN rapporteur.
“The “crisis” in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is an economic crisis, which cannot be compared with the humanitarian crises in Gaza, Yemen, Libya, the Syrian Arab Republic, Iraq, Haiti, Mali, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Somalia, or Myanmar, among others. It is significant that when, in 2017, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela requested medical aid from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the plea was rejected, because it ‘is still a high-income country … and as such is not eligible’, says Professor de Zayas, the UN rapporteur who visited Venezuela.
According to him among the multiple factors affecting the crisis are;
“1) the century-old dependence on the sale of petroleum and the devastating effect of the sharp fall of oil prices,
2) the cumulative effect of 19 years of economic war conducted against the socialist regime, comparable to the measures adopted 1970-73 against the government of Salvador Allende in Chile and in the 1980’s against the government of Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua,
3) the financial blockade, comparable to that suffered by Cuba since 1960, and
4) the effects of the economic sanctions imposed since 2015, which have immensely aggravated the scarcity of foods and medicines, caused serious delays in distribution, and triggered the phenomenon of mass emigration to neighbouring countries”.
“The effects of sanctions imposed by Presidents Obama and Trump and unilateral measures by Canada and the European Union have directly and indirectly aggravated the shortages in medicines such as insulin and anti-retroviral drugs.
To the extent that economic sanctions have caused delays in distribution and thus contributed to many deaths, sanctions contravene the human rights obligations of the countries imposing them. Moreover, sanctions can amount to crimes against humanity under Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. An investigation by that Court would be appropriate, but the geopolitical submissiveness of the Court may prevent this.”
He observes that “In order to discredit selected governments, failures in the field of human rights are maximized so as to make violent overthrow more palatable. Human rights are being ‘weaponized’ against rivals”. Of special interest is his conclusion that “There is not only a horizontal juridical world order governed by the Charter of the United Nations and principles of sovereign equality, but also a vertical world order reflecting the hierarchy of a geopolitical system that links dominant States with the rest of the world according to military and economic power. It is the latter, geopolitical system that generates geopolitical crimes, hitherto in total impunity….” “Economic sanctions kill.”
The rapporteur concludes that “The solution to the Venezuelan crisis lies in good faith negotiations between the Government and the Opposition, an end to the economic war, and the lifting of sanctions.
Less food for more people
While technology has improved food production to adequate levels and even surpluses are generated more people in the world face food insecurity and are suffering from malnutrition. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) the number of undernourished persons in the world increased by 821 million in 2017. That means one in every ninth is undernourished.
Three main reasons are attributed to this situation. They are intensification of conflicts, economic downturn and climate change. Hundreds are caught in internal and inter-State conflicts and an ever-increasing number of refugees cross borders in order to save their lives. In this attempt they undergo numerous difficulties including hunger and are at the mercy of charitable organisations. Economic downturn also reduces the prospects of food security, especially access to food for the poor and marginalized sections of the population. Climate change including El Nino phenomena are causing floods, drought, melting of the polar ice-caps and warming of land and water.
The very existence of the human species is under threat. Though collective efforts are being taken to mitigate climate change the United States has withdrawn from the world Climate Deal and is continuing disastrous environmental policies for short-term benefits. Looking at another angle poverty, inequality and marginalization could be termed the causes of food insecurity and undernourishment.
The recent increase in the numbers of the undernourished casts doubts about the possibility of attaining the SDG of zero hunger by 2030.
Today there are 151 million children less than five years of age who are afflicted with stunting.
It is 22 percent of all children of that age category. Another 51 million suffer from wasting. Among adults over 672 million are found to be obese or overweight. That means obesity affects one in every eight persons on our planet.
Add new comment