Although it may seem incredible from other parts of the world, Venezuela has a Deputy Minister for Anti-Blockade Policies who reports to the Ministry of Popular Power for Internal Relations, Justice, and Peace. The very existence of such a position is cause for alarm. The man in question is William Castillo, who is responsible for managing the response to sanctions imposed on Venezuela, especially those imposed by the US administration of Donald Trump.
Since taking office, Deputy Minister Castillo has repeatedly expressed the importance of lifting the sanctions, framing them as a form of humanitarian aid and explaining the impact these policies have had over the course of a decade.
In interviews with various media outlets, William Castillo describes the economic and social impact of the unilateral coercive measures imposed on Venezuela, explaining the guidelines and economic mechanisms that the Bolivarian nation is implementing to overcome the blockade imposed by the United States and its allies.
He does not hesitate to point out that the main objective of the economic sanctions was to create a situation of growing devastation in the country. For this reason, he argues, the attacks were directed against the Venezuelan oil industry.
“Millions of dollars belonging to Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. are being held by the international financial system. This blockade on oil trade and public finances seeks precisely to generate an economic implosion through devastation.”
The Deputy Minister specified that ”the economy fell to a fifth of its size starting in 2015. PDVSA lost $232 billion in the following seven years, stopped producing nearly 4 billion barrels, and the economy as a whole lost $642 billion in revenue that was not produced as a result of the economic crisis.”
Following this blockade, the country sought allies by diversifying its oil shipments and using alternative routes, as well as economic alliances with nations that reject the application of such measures. Such is the case with Russia, Turkey, Iran, and India, countries that took the risk of continuing to trade and participate in Venezuela’s development.
Subsequently, the approval of the Anti-Blockade Law was fundamental for the reactivation of the country’s productive sectors, as well as for attracting investment once again.
“Today, production is over 1 million barrels, which means there is a recovery. But we are still at just over a third of what we were producing 10 years ago,” he said.
William Castillo argued that sanctions represent a global problem that affects free trade and imposes limitations and penalties on a large part of the world’s population.
He pointed out that there are currently more than 30 nations that are subject to these illegal sanctions, mainly by the United States, which affect at least 28% of the world’s population. He referred to Russia and China, which are subject to unilateral coercive measures. In particular, Russia is the most sanctioned country, with more than 37,000 sanctions.
Currently, the Donald Trump administration imposes them by decree and in an almost random manner, sometimes backtracking, but attacking with a violence typical of a trade war.
“It is, therefore, a problem for humanity. If we take out Russia and China, which we could say are developed economies, all the others are small economies, medium-sized economies or emerging economies, such as Iran or the African countries, which were sanctioned during the independence process. In other words, countries punished for promoting their political freedom. In our case, we have been sanctioned for a strategic objective: to take control of Venezuela’s oil,” said Deputy Minister Castillo.
