Latin America Advisor

Francisco Rodriguez, Rice Family Professor of the Practice of International and Public Affairs at the University of Denver: “The United States imposes two types of sanctions on Venezuela: targeted sanctions aimed at Venezuelan leaders, and economic sanctions aimed at key sectors of the economy. While many countries have imposed targeted sanctions on Venezuelan officials, the United States is alone in pursuing sanctions that directly target the country’s economy. There is considerable evidence that U.S. economic sanctions have exacerbated Venezuela’s crisis, hurting vulnerable Venezuelans. In my empirical work, I estimate that approximately half of Venezuela’s economic contraction since 2012—the largest ever documented outside of wartime—can be attributed to economic sanctions and other U.S. foreign policy decisions that affected the Venezuelan economy. There is thus a very strong case for…”