Venezuela crisis: US sanctions expected to hurt businesses

World Today

When it unveiled its latest sanctions on Venezuela, the Trump administration said the measures were designed to turn up the heat on the government of Nicolas Maduro, without adding too much to the economic plight of ordinary Venezuelans.

The White House banned U.S. trading of new debt with the Venezuelan government and dealings with the state oil company.

But as CGTN’s Juan Carlos Lamas reports, the new measures aren’t making life any easier for the average citizen.

The latest American sanctions against Venezuela mean that President Nicolas Maduro’s government has lost a potential source of foreign currency used to pay its international debts and buy things – like imports of food and medicine.

But economists argued the new sanctions will impact not only the Venezuelan government, but also thousands of companies which are already affected by the country’s deep economic crisis. A population already struggling to cope is expected to face inflation of 2,000 percent in 2018, according to the IMF. As result, yet more companies are expected to go under.

Maduro’s government claims to be the victim of a financial blockade, which limits vital imports of food and medicine and accuses adversaries of promoting it, with the support of the United States, as a means to overthrow him. The Venezuelan government has said it will restructure the economy, to depend less on selling oil, which is Venezuela’s main source of income. But many people wonder whether that’s even possible and if it’s what this country needs to overcome the economic crisis.