Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Jorge Arreaza, said the US sanctions harm the people of Venezuela and freeing the seized assets would alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the country.

He said the United Nations and the international community should encourage the lifting of sanctions imposed by the United States.

“What we have asked the United Nations and the world is to promote the lifting of sanctions to get rid of the blockade against Venezuela and to lift the seizure of our assets of $30 billion”, Arreaza told a press briefing on Tuesday.

The Venezuelan FM also noted that he discussed with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres humanitarian aid and strengthening the cooperation between his country and the United Nations.

“We spoke about this [humanitarian aid], we spoke about deepening the cooperation with UN agencies in those sectors of Venezuelan economy that had been affected by the kind of warfare we have seen, the new kind of warfare, international economic warfare”, Arreaza said.

The foreign minister added that while the Venezuelan mission is in New York, they will continue to meet with a number of representatives from other UN member-states to promote Venezuela’s cooperation with the organization.

Source: Agencies