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IMF rejects crisis-hit Venezuela’s request for massive COVID-19 aid
Source:AFP Published: 2020/3/18 21:53:41
The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday rejected economically devastated Venezuela's request for a $5 billion loan to help it cope with the coronavirus pandemic.
"Unfortunately, the Fund is not in a position to consider this request," because there is "no clarity" on international recognition of the country's government, the Washington-based institution said in a statement.
"As we have mentioned before, IMF engagement with member countries is predicated on official government recognition by the international community, as reflected in the IMF's membership. There is no clarity on recognition at this time," the statement said.
More than 50 countries including the United States have not recognized Maduro for more than a year. They switched allegiance to opposition leader Juan Guaido who declared himself acting president.
Guaido branded Maduro a usurper over the president's 2018 reelection in polls widely seen as fraudulent. But US sanctions and other international pressures have failed to dislodge Maduro, who retains the support of the powerful military.
The RFI from which Maduro sought the assistance is a mechanism by which all IMF member countries can get financial assistance without the need to have a full-fledged economic program in place.
Venezuela's health system is vulnerable after five years of economic and political crisis that has sent millions of people fleeing for lack of basic staples.
"We hardly have five percent of the medicine stocks we need," Douglas Leon Natera, head of the Venezuelan Medical Federation, told AFP earlier.
Jan Egeland, general secretary of the Norwegian Refugee Council, placed Venezuela in the same category as war-torn Syria and Yemen in its preparedness.
Like those countries, "there will be carnage" when the virus reaches parts of Venezuela given that "health systems have collapsed," warned Egeland.
A man shops at a store covered with plastic as a precautionary measure against the spread of COVID-19 in Caracas, Venezuela on Tuesday. Photo: AFP
President Nicolas Maduro made the request earlier Tuesday but, in a statement hours later, the Washington-based institution indirectly cited a dispute over Maduro's leadership in denying his petition."Unfortunately, the Fund is not in a position to consider this request," because there is "no clarity" on international recognition of the country's government, the Washington-based institution said in a statement.
"As we have mentioned before, IMF engagement with member countries is predicated on official government recognition by the international community, as reflected in the IMF's membership. There is no clarity on recognition at this time," the statement said.
More than 50 countries including the United States have not recognized Maduro for more than a year. They switched allegiance to opposition leader Juan Guaido who declared himself acting president.
Guaido branded Maduro a usurper over the president's 2018 reelection in polls widely seen as fraudulent. But US sanctions and other international pressures have failed to dislodge Maduro, who retains the support of the powerful military.
The RFI from which Maduro sought the assistance is a mechanism by which all IMF member countries can get financial assistance without the need to have a full-fledged economic program in place.
Venezuela's health system is vulnerable after five years of economic and political crisis that has sent millions of people fleeing for lack of basic staples.
"We hardly have five percent of the medicine stocks we need," Douglas Leon Natera, head of the Venezuelan Medical Federation, told AFP earlier.
Jan Egeland, general secretary of the Norwegian Refugee Council, placed Venezuela in the same category as war-torn Syria and Yemen in its preparedness.
Like those countries, "there will be carnage" when the virus reaches parts of Venezuela given that "health systems have collapsed," warned Egeland.
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Posted in: AMERICAS