Venezuela Files Complaint With Hague Tribunal Over US Sanctions

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza came to the International Criminal Court in The Hague on Thursday to officially lodge a complaint against US sanctions

USHUAIA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th February, 2020) Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza came to the International Criminal Court in The Hague on Thursday to officially lodge a complaint against US sanctions.

"This Thursday Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza arrived at the International Criminal Court... to file a complaint over crimes against humanity committed by the US government," the ministry said in a statement.

The motion was prepared with the help of Vice President Delcy Rodriguez and chief prosecutor Reinaldo Munoz on the order of President Nicolas Maduro, who announced his plan to take the United States to court on Monday.

Arreaza presented the file to the media in the Dutch city, saying that more than 35 UN General Assembly declarations called for the end to US' "unilateral coercive measures," which he described as a "death sentence" to Venezuelans.

The United States has imposed sanctions on Venezuela for more than a decade in order to put pressure on the South American country and topple the United Socialist Party government, first led by Hugo Chavez, who was followed in 2013 by Maduro.

The US measures have intensified amid a political crisis that began in early 2019 when Juan Guaido, the opposition figure supported by the US and other western countries, proclaimed himself interim president of Venezuela. A number of countries, including Russia, China and Turkey, have said that they recognize Maduro as the only legitimate president of Venezuela.