Academics, Activists Denounce New US Economic Sanctions Against Venezuela

Contact: Medea Benjamin, Co-Founder, CODEPINK
415-236-6517

MEDIA ADVISORY

Academics, Activists Denounce New US Economic Sanctions Against Venezuela

Event: Press Conference
Date & Time:  Thursday, August 8, 2019/2:00 PM Eastern
Place:  The White House

On Monday, August 5, 2019, The White House issued a new round of sanctions against Venezuela, freezing all Venezuela government assets in the United States and threatening to sanction foreign governments and companies that do business with the Maduro government. Participants in the press conference will denounce these sanctions as a form of economic warfare that will only lead to more suffering among the Venezuela people. 

Speakers will include prominent academics and activists who have recently spent time in Venezuela. They include Teri Mattson of the Campaign to End US-Canada Sanctions Against Venezuela, author and radio host Sean Blackmon, Embassy Protection Collective member Sergio Torrez, university student Aminta Zea and author/CODEPINK director Medea Benjamin. Mattson and Zea just returned from Venezuela this week. 

The speakers will also condemn the Trump administration, particularly National Security Advisor John Bolton, for using these sanctions as a way to sabotage the productive talks that have been taking place in Barbados between the Maduro government and the opposition. “In announcing these brutal sanctions, John Bolton said that the time for dialogue is over--making it crystal clear that the Trump administration is only interested in regime change and cares nothing about the wellbeing of the Venezuelan people,” says Medea Benjamin.