MONTEVIDEO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th February, 2019) Sanctions imposed against Venezuela in reality are imposed on the Venezuelan people and will worsen the humanitarian crisis in the country, Mexico's Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard told Sputnik ahead of the meeting of the International Contact Group on Venezuela.
"The thing that more and more actions are taken, sanctions against Venezuela, in real terms are actions against the people," Ebrard said on Thursday. "So the humanitarian crisis is going to be worse."
Last week, the United States blocked all assets of Venezuela's PDVSA in its jurisdiction and imposed a ban on deals with the oil company. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters that by blocking PDVSA's assets, the United States was taking care of this company in the interests of the people of Venezuela and also protecting its own market.
Venezuela has suffered from years of economic and political crisis after the global oil market crashed in 2014, prompting millions to flee their homes to neighboring countries.
The political crisis worsened in Venezuela after Juan Guaido, the leader of the opposition-led National Authority, proclaimed himself the country's interim president on January 23.
The United States and some of its allies have recognized Guaido as Venezuela's interim president. Russia, China, Mexico and several other nations maintain that Maduro is Venezuela's legitimate president.
Maduro has said Guaido is a puppet of the United States, accused Washington of attempting to organize a copu d'etat in Venezuela and informed the US government of his decision to sever diplomatic relations.
