Jorge Arreaza: There Is No Humanitarian Crisis in Venezuela

The Venezuelan foreign minister slammed the hypocrisy of offers of humanitarian aid to Venezuela by the same countries that imposed the harsh sanctions.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said Monday that "there is no humanitarian crisis in Venezuela," but rather an "economic crisis," as a consequence of the sanctions and the blockade exercised by sectors of the international political right against the South American nation.

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"It is greatly cynical of those who would blockade Venezuela to (then) offer humanitarian aid afterward," Arreaza said during the 39th session of the U.N. Human Rights Council, where the situation in Venezuela was discussed, in reference to harsh sanctions against his country by the U.S. and the European Union.

The diplomat's statement corresponds to what was expressed in the report of independent expert Alfred-Maurice de Zayas during the session.

"We request on behalf of the people of Venezuela and President Nicolás Maduro the cessation of aggression against the Bolivarian Republic," said the Venezuelan foreign minister.

His comments just days after a damning New York Times report revealed that secret meetings had been taken place between the United States military and several Venezuelan military officers who were plotting to carry out a coup against President Maduro, but eventually failed to do so and failed to convince the United States to support their efforts. 

Commenting on the report, Arreaza, rejected the U.S. interference and plots against the democratically-elected government of Maduro, and said such reports confirm what Venezuela has been saying for years, that Washington and its allies have been working in secret with right-wing elements in the country to oust Maduro and his leftist government. 

"We denounce the plans for intervention and support given to military conspirators by the government of the United States against Venezuela," Jorge Arreaza wrote on Twitter on Saturday. "Even in U.S. media, the crass evidence is coming to light."