DEC 2019: Sanctions vs. Venezuela
Current Research for Public Forum Debate Class…
TOPIC: Ending U.S. Sanctions Against Venezuela
Resolved: The United States should end its economic sanctions against Venezuela.
Shared Folder: PF Research Folder [2020-01-01] = Sanctions Against Venezuela.
BACKGROUND:
Venezuela: Overview of U.S. Sanctions (Congressional Research Service, October 16, 2019)
For more than a decade, the United States has employed sanctions as a policy tool in response to activities of the Venezuelan government and Venezuelan individuals. As Venezuela’s political and economic crisis under the leadership of Nicolás Maduro has deepened, the Trump Administration has significantly expanded sanctions. The Treasury Department has sanctions on at least 132 Venezuelan or Venezuelan-connected individuals and the State Department has revoked the visas of hundreds of individuals. The Trump Administration also has imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s state oil company (Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., or PdVSA), government, and central bank. Sanctions have increased pressure on the Maduro government, including accelerating the decline in Venezuela’s oil production. However, sanctions have not yet led to a political transition. Maduro remains in power, even though it has been nearly 10 months since the United States recognized Juan Guidó, the head of Venezuela’s National Assembly, as the country’s interim president and ceased to recognize Maduro as the president of Venezuela.
REQUIRED RESEARCH VIDEOS:
Why the U.S. imposed sanctions on Venezuela,
PBS Newshour, August 25, 2017 [9 min]
http://pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-imposed-sanctions-venezuela
Note: Please watch the entire news story and take notes from the short article as well. ty
White House news briefing ahead of Hurricane Harvey,
PBS Newshour, August 25, 2017 [85 min] <– Please watch only the first 5 mins!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL1ov4UwpCs&feature=youtu.be
Of the three major scenarios for Venezuela, U.S. military intervention is the least likely,
Miami Herald, March 11, 2019 [2 min]
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/andres-oppenheimer/article226008405.html
US sanctions on Venezuela responsible for \’tens of thousands\’ of deaths, claims new report,
The Independent, April 26, 2019 [2 min]
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/venezuela-sanctions-us-excess-death-toll-economy-oil-trump-maduro-juan-guaido-jeffrey-sachs-a8888516.html
Note: The better information comes from the article. Please skim/read it for some statistics and details concerning the suffering in Venezuela.
REQUIRED RESEARCH ARTICLES:
Why the U.S. imposed sanctions on Venezuela,
PBS Newshour, August 25, 2017 [9 min]
http://pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-imposed-sanctions-venezuela
What do the sanctions do? The sanctions are meant to block banks from dealing with the government of Venezuela and the state-run oil and natural gas company PDVSA. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin added at a White House press conference Friday that the action was focused on restricting the Maduro regime’s access to American debt and equity markets. “Maduro may no longer take advantage of the American financial system to facilitate the wholesale looting of the Venezuelan economy at the expense of the Venezuelan people,” he said.
Venezuela: Overview of U.S. Sanctions,
Congressional Research Service, October 16, 2019
https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/IF10715.pdf
Sanctions on the Maduro Government and Persons Transacting with or Assisting That Government: On August 5, 2019, President Trump issued E.O. 13884, blocking (freezing) the property and interests of the Maduro government in the U.S. and within the control of U.S. persons. The order also prohibits U.S. persons from engaging in transactions with the Maduro government unless authorized by OFAC. E.O. 13884 also authorized financial sanctions and visa restrictions on non-U.S. persons that assist or support the Maduro government, which could lead to U.S. sanctions on foreign energy companies whose joint ventures with PdVSA have kept Venezuela’s oil industry afloat. To allow continued humanitarian assistance to the Venezuelan people, OFAC issued licenses authorizing transactions involving the delivery of food, agricultural commodities, and medicine; personal remittances; the work of international organizations; and communications services.
‘It Worked in Panama.’ This Is Not True: More sanctions will only hurt the Venezuelan people,
Michael Shifter, Expert on United States-Latin American Relations, New York Times, August 8, 2019
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/08/opinion/contributors/venezuela-embargo-trump.html
President Trump issued an executive order on Monday imposing a new round of economic sanctions on the Venezuelan government. The action sends a clear message to Venezuela’s top military brass — the regime’s chief pillar of support. The United States will not be satisfied until President Nicolás Maduro is ousted, and Venezuela is on a path toward democratic elections. And yet Washington’s mounting threats and sanctions have failed to persuade the upper echelons of the Venezuelan military to abandon Mr. Maduro. In fact, they have remained loyal to the Chavista regime, in the face of economic collapse and a countrywide humanitarian crisis.
U.S. Oil Sanctions Hurting Venezuelans: Time for a New Approach to Pressure Maduro,
Francisco Rodríguez, Former Head of Research, for the United Nations’ Human Development Report, Washington Post, December 4, 2019
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/12/04/us-oil-sanctions-are-hurting-venezuelans-time-new-approach-pressure-maduro/
Note: Francisco Rodríguez is the founder and director of Oil for Venezuela and a former head of research of the United Nations’ Human Development Report.
\”Venezuela is living through the deepest economic and humanitarian crisis in our hemisphere in more than a century. This catastrophe was triggered by the mismanagement and corruption of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chávez. Yet it is now increasingly clear that U.S. economic sanctions are also aggravating it. … Children and families currently struggling to survive should not have been asked to wait for the resolution to a political crisis of unknown duration. The United States, the international community and the parties to Venezuela’s conflict have the responsibility of ensuring that no more Venezuelans become collateral casualties of the country’s political confrontation.\”
OPTIONAL RESEARCH ARTICLES/VIDEOS:
[Video] Volatile Venezuela: What to Do About the Crisis,
Council on Foreign Relations, April 4, 2018 [78 min]
https://www.cfr.org/event/volatile-venezuela-what-do-about-crisis
Note: There is a transcript that you can copy notes from. These are TOP experts discussing the situation from 2018, so it is still considered relevant/recent/reliable.
[Video] U.S. sanctions put Venezuela in ‘club of rogue states’ like Cuba, Syria, North Korea,
John Bolton, National Security Adviser, Miami Herald, August 6, 2019 [1 min]
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article233569847.html
Impact of the 2017 Sanctions on Venezuela,
Policy Brief, Brookings Institution, May 2019
https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/impact-of-the-2017-sanctions-on-venezuela_final.pdf
Economic Sanctions as Collective Punishment: The Case of Venezuela,
Mark Weisbrot & Jeffrey Sachs, Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), April 2019
http://cepr.net/images/stories/reports/venezuela-sanctions-2019-04.pdf
Note: Mark Weisbrot is Co-Director at the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR). Jeffrey Sachs is a Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University.
Venezuela Crisis: Former UN Rapporteur Says US Sanctions are Killing Citizens,
Alfred De-Zayas, Expert in International law, Formerly with UN Human Rights Council (HRC), The Independent, January 26, 2019
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/venezuela-us-sanctions-united-nations-oil-pdvsa-a8748201.html
Note: Mr. De Zayas, a former secretary of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) and an expert in international law, spoke to The Independent following the presentation of his Venezuela report to the HRC in September. He said that since its presentation the report has been ignored by the UN and has not sparked the public debate he believes it deserves.
Additional Note: Article contains powerful language such as \”crimes against humanity,\” when describing the impact of sanctions on the people of Venezuela.
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CONTACT INFORMATION (Coach Bill):
Bill Eddy,
coachbill@magnetacademy.com
714.655.8135 (I prefer text)
When contacting me, please include your name and class information (day/time). Thanks!