Ambassador Sandoval: “Blocking the entry of vaccines for the people is equivalent to a collective death penalty”

With estimates ranging between 2,500 and 4,000 daily cases of Covid-19 in Venezuela and 90% occupancy in the intensive care units of hospitals and clinics, “to block the entry of AstraZeneca vaccines, managed through the Covax system of the World Health Organization (WHO), is a death sentence for Venezuelans who will not be able to overcome the pandemic unless they are vaccinated,” said Claudio Sandoval, Ambassador of Venezuela in Honduras.

According to Sandoval “this measure is another reflection of the sinister and anti-Christian nature of Nicolás Maduro and his henchmen, who continue to break their own record of cruelty and disregard for the life and protection of Venezuelans.”

Nicolás Maduro’s dictatorship deprives Venezuelans of their right to be immunized against Covid-19, however, “the elites of the regime have been getting immunized with vaccines that entered the country under a scheme of privileges leaving aside the people and, above all, the first line of containment of the pandemic: healthcare personnel,” emphasized the diplomat.

It should be noted that since last year the government of the President in charge, Juan Guaidó, has taken the necessary steps to coordinate a vaccination program against Covid-19 through the Covax system, this allowed approval (of funds) by the legitimate National Assembly, for more than 30 million U.S. dollars for the purchase of 12 million doses of vaccine.

The Covid-19 pandemic arrived in Venezuela in the midst of a humanitarian crisis and the institutional collapse of the Venezuelan State generated by Maduro’s dictatorship, where hunger, extreme poverty and the precariousness of the public healthcare system increase the suffering of millions of Venezuelans. In this regard, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Michelle Bachelet, expressed her concern given the lack of biosafety equipment and water in healthcare centers.

“I respectfully call on members of the international community, especially High Commissioner Bachelet, and the UN Fact-Finding Mission in Venezuela, to document in their reports this new way of violating the right to life, the right to personal integrity and the right to health by Maduro’s dictatorship. Thus, another practice of the regime is added to its pattern of deliberate and systematic State policy to stay in power at any cost, even at the expense of the human rights of Venezuelans,” Sandoval warned.

In the opinion of Ambassador Sandoval, “Maduro’s regime intends to politicize the vaccination program despite the agreement signed with the mediation of international organizations. Even in the most fratricidal conflicts, there are occasions where the parties agree to a cease fire for reasons of humanity and to protect civilians. In this case, Maduro’s intransigence is another proof that he is willing to blackmail and gamble with the lives of Venezuelans.”