U.S. sanctions hurt both Americans, Venezuelans: official

Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-13 10:29:35|Editor: liuxin
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CARACAS, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Unilateral sanctions by Washington will harm both U.S. companies and Venezuela's economy, Delcy Rodriguez, president of Venezuela's National Constituent Assembly (ANC) newly elected to rewrite the constitution, told Xinhua in an interview.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing new sanctions on Venezuela last month, which will prohibit dealings in new debt and equity issued by the government of Venezuela and its state oil company.

It was the latest round of sanctions slapped by the Trump administration on the South American country after Venezuela held elections for the ANC at the end of July.

"The main holders of Venezuelan debt bonds are Americans, Canadians and British; (Trump) is harming those bond holders," said Rodriguez.

Washington's unilateral actions "are going to harm U.S. companies," she said.

Venezuela's business ties with the United States created jobs and contributed to social programs which are affected by the sanctions.

"Venezuela has refineries in the United States that provide jobs for Americans. Venezuela has refineries that also develop social programs for Americans, so both the people of the United States and the people of Venezuela are being directly harmed," said Rodriguez.

Since 2005, Venezuelan-owned CITGO Petroleum Corporation in the U.S. state of Texas, which operates thousands of gas stations, has supplied low-income U.S. families with free fuel to heat their homes in winter, aiding more than 1.7 million U.S. residents across 25 states, Rodriguez said.

Should commercial ties between the two countries be severed, Rodriguez said "we have other markets where we can sell our oil."

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