US sanctions against country caused $700 bn GDP loss: Venezuelan VP

Caracas, March 12 (IANS) Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez has said the US sanctions against the country have caused losses of nearly $700 billion in GDP.

At an international seminar in the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra on Monday, the Vice President said Venezuela's oil industry sustained losses of almost 232 billion dollars due to the sanctions, which have in addition frozen more than 22 billion dollars Venezuelan assets in international banks, Xinhua news agency reported.

The US, she said, has failed to comply with the lifting of sanctions as established in the Barbados Agreement reached between the government and Venezuelan opposition parties in October 2023.

The agreement brought a relief, known as General License 44, from the US on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government in October 2023, but the Joe Biden administration reimposed sanctions on Venezuela in January, saying the move was in response to Maduro's decision to ban a leading opposition candidate from running for president.

In view of US unilateral policies, Latin America "essentially" needs a new financial architecture, Rodriguez said.

"If we want to think about a new financial architecture, we must carry out trade in our own currencies," said the Venezuelan vice president.