Rights Groups Demand End to Venezuela Sanctions as Earthquake Death Toll Passes 2,000

A coalition of human rights and antiwar groups are calling on President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to lift all U.S. sanctions on Venezuela as the death toll from last week’s devastating twin earthquakes continues to rise and as humanitarian aid advocates warn of a widening health and hunger crisis. In a letter obtained by the publication Common Dreams, the groups write, “As long as sweeping economic sanctions remain in place and Venezuelan assets remain frozen abroad, reconstruction will be unnecessarily delayed, and millions of people will continue to suffer.” The letter has been signed by dozens of organizations, including the Center for Economic and Policy Research and the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. The U.N. Development Program has estimated the earthquakes have caused $6.7 billion in damage. On Wednesday, the death toll had already surpassed 2,000, which is believed to be a vast undercount, with tens of thousands of people still unaccounted for. www.democracynow.org