
Caracas - The Bolivarian government has lost millions of dollars as a result of the US financial blockade, according to a report by Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) Legal Consultancy.
The report entitled 'Sanctions and blockade, a crime against humanity, against Venezuela,' states that accounts in correspondent banks such as Commerzbank AG, Citibank and Bank of China in Frankfurt, in which Venezuela held in August 2017 about US$150 billion, were closed as of the Washington-imposed coercive measures.
Since the signing of the executive order by US President Donald Trump, on the same date on which economic sanctions were issued against Venezuela, the country is facing an international financial blockade.
'The banks aligned themselves with the blockade preventing the use of resources to purchase food and medicine. Resources remained frozen in the case of Bank of China in Frankfurt until March 2018,' the document noted.
The report reviews that due to the sanctions, Venezuela cannot maintain accounts in US dollars, forcing it to resort to European, Middle Eastern and Asian banks, with the need to adopt the Euro as its main foreign currency as well as using other emerging market currencies (Turkish liras, dirhams and yuan).
Given this situation, the Bolivarian government has suffered considerable losses due to currency differentials in transactional and financial costs.
