THE Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) has demanded “a united anti-imperialist front” to press for an end to sanctions and the unfreezing of the country’s assets by Britain, Portugal and the United States.

In today’s statement it supported the preliminary conclusions of UN special rapporteur Alena Douhan, who noted in her recent visit to the South American nation that “the sanctions have strengthened the pre-existing problems and they have contributed to the loss of human rights of the population.”

Ms Douhan’s report recommended that the US and European Union lift the universal coercive measures that, the PCV said, have caused devastation, including forcing the most vulnerable in society into extreme poverty.

“We support the request of the rapporteur to the governments of the United Kingdom, Portugal and the United States and the corresponding banks to unfreeze assets of the Central Bank of Venezuela for the purchase of medicines, vaccines, food, medical and other equipment, spare parts and other goods essential to ensure humanitarian needs exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic,” it said.

The party also took aim at what it described as “errors in economic planning” by the Bolivarian government, warning that “corruption and inefficiency” were also contributing factors in driving thousands of people out of the country.

“The brain-drain and loss of skilled labour contribute to the debacle of our productive system that today shows dire indicators only comparable with countries plagued by imperialist wars,” it said.

The PCV has taken an increasingly critical stance towards the government of President Nicolas Maduro, standing its own candidates in the recent election to the national assembly.

But it insists that Venezuela’s difficulties have worsened due to the aggressive global stance taken against the country, which worsened after former US president Barack Obama signed an executive order in 2015 designating the country a threat to US national security.

Venezuela has been subjected to a near total blockade with no sign of a change in position from the new administration of President Joe Biden, whose administration was swift to announce its support for the hapless opposition politician Juan Guaido, who has fronted countless failed coup attempts. 

The PCV said it was essential “to continue advancing towards the formation of a broad national and world anti-imperialist front that continues activism demanding from the imperialist powers the end of coercive measures so that the Venezuelan people can, without any coercion, practice democratic exercise and find consensus to overcome the conflict existing and exacerbated today in the economic, political and social life of the country.”