Several Venezuelan children died from cancer after Italian-Venezuelan health cooperation program ATMO ONLUS, which allows minors from Venezuela to get treatment in Italy, was hit by US sanctions and starved of funding, Deputy Director of the Information and Press Department at the Russian Foreign Ministry Artyom Kozhin said on Tuesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th June, 2019) Several Venezuelan children died from cancer after Italian-Venezuelan health cooperation program ATMO ONLUS, which allows minors from Venezuela to get treatment in Italy, was hit by US sanctions and starved of funding, Deputy Director of the Information and Press Department at the Russian Foreign Ministry Artyom Kozhin said on Tuesday.The program notably receives funding from Venezuelan state-owned oil and gas company PDVSA, whose assets were partly frozen by Washington after Caracas plunged into a political crisis.
"ATMO ONLUS aimed at helping children with cancer fell under the [US] sanctions. European banks have been refusing to transfer funds to pay for [the children's] treatment under threat of sanctions since March. There were 26 children who needed [the treatment] in March but now there are fewer of them. Unfortunately, [doctors] could not save several [minors]," Kozhin said in an interview with Russia's Izvestia newspaper.
According to the diplomat, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov raised the issue with his US counterpart, Mike Pompeo, during their meeting in May.
"We have been waiting for an answer for over a month. Can I not quote its content? ... The Americans have demonstrated the wonders of verbal gymnastics to prove that while children with cancer are dying, they are not to blame. Such logic is called 'beyond any limits,'" the diplomat said.
Kozhin added that ATMO ONLUS was not the only case where US sanctions prevented Venezuelan children from getting the medical treatment they needed.
"Similar behavior by Spanish bank Banco Santander, apparently because of fears of being subjected to US sanctions, made it impossible [for Caracas] to purchase spare parts for cardiovascular surgery equipment for the needs of the Latin American Children's Cardiology Hospital Dr. Gilberto Rodriguez Ochoa. As a result, about 800 juvenile patients remain without operations," the diplomat said.
Washington, which has been supporting Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido in his attempts to oust President Nicolas Maduro, has said it wants to use its sanctions to deliver a hard blow to the country's economy and force Maduro out of office.
