Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has approved oil supplies in exchange for coronavirus vaccines, he said on March 29. The performance was broadcast by the VTV channel.
“Today I approved the shipment of oil in exchange for vaccines. Venezuela has oil tankers and customers who buy oil and will allocate some of their production to purchase the vaccines Venezuela needs, ”Maduro said.
According to Maduro, Venezuela is also taking legal and judicial measures to release funds frozen in government accounts in other countries through sanctions in order to pay for the purchase of vaccines under the international COVAX mechanism. Thus, as indicated by the President of the Republic, it will be possible to get 20% of the required amount of drugs.
The scheme of oil payments, as Maduro emphasized, will allow the country not to ask anyone for help in the fight against coronavirus, for this Venezuela has “the dignity and all the resources” to protect the citizens of the country.
“We guarantee that all vaccines will make it possible to vaccinate 100% of citizens. We have agreed on Russian and Chinese vaccines, we are studying and approving other vaccines, ”Maduro said.
Relations between Venezuela and the United States remain tense due to the fact that in January 2019, against the backdrop of protests, opposition leader Juan Guaido proclaimed himself head of state, and the United States recognized him as legitimate and imposed unilateral sanctions against the republic and a number of politicians. A number of countries, including Russia, China and Mexico, have supported President Nicolas Maduro.
The most painful of the US restrictions were the freezing of Venezuela’s accounts in Europe and the blocking of assets and interests of the oil and gas company PDVSA in the US jurisdiction, as well as the prohibition of transactions with them.
On March 24, Venezuelan Vice President Dalsi Rodriguez announced that more than $ 7 billion were stored in foreign banks, blocked by the US authorities, and the country’s authorities could not get access to them. According to the White House, another $ 11 billion should be lost in oil supplies.
The Venezuelan government is suing the United States before the World Trade Organization (WTO) for imposing unilateral coercive measures that violate international trade rules, said March 26 in Twitter Foreign Minister Jorge Arreas.
Maduro himself and his wife Celia Flores were vaccinated with the Russian Sputnik V vaccine on March 6.