Los Angeles Times - 03.04.2020

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THE WORLD

BEIRUT — Hezbollah,
the Iran-backed Islamic fac-
tion in Lebanon deemed a
terrorist group by the U.S.,
has decades of experience
fighting wars. But not the
kind it launched this week.
Armed with red, yellow
and green Hezbollah flags
and masks decorated with
the same colors, thousands
of doctors, nurses and medi-
cal technicians began mobi-
lizing to battle a new adver-
sary: the coronavirus.
But Hezbollah, along
with the governments of
Iran, Venezuela and others,
is facing the pandemicat the
same time it lurches under
the weight of harsh U.S.
economic sanctions that
have blocked its access to
money, imports and interna-
tional alliances.
Now as virtually every
country in the world grap-
ples with the health crisis,
the American pressure
campaignagainst its foes is
drawing attention.
Venezuelan President
Nicolas Maduro, whom the
Trump administration has
been trying to oust for more
than a year, accused the
U.S. on Tuesday of “inhu-
mane” exploitation of the co-
ronavirus crisis, using it as a
way to corner him and his so-
cialist government. U.S.
sanctions have been levied
against numerous Venezue-
lan officials, businesses and
the country’s lifeline, oil pro-
duction.
Venezuela is only begin-
ning to detect cases of
COVID-19, the highly infec-
tious disease caused by the
novel coronavirus, and its
collapsed health system is
woefully ill-equipped to

treat an onslaught of vic-

tims, residents say. Without

ventilators, medicines, wa-

ter and sometimes electric-

ity, the best some hospitals

have been able to offer is

hand sanitizer.

The Trump administra-

tion last week tightened its

sanctions, adding more Ven-

ezuelan officials to its black-

list, which bars them from

doing business with U.S. citi-

zens and companies. And

the Justice Department in-

dicted Maduro and more

than a dozen members of his

inner circle on drug-traffick-

ing and related criminal

charges.

On Tuesday, Secretary of

State Michael R. Pompeo of-

fered a carrot, saying the

U.S. would gradually lift

sanctions if Maduro stepped

down and dissolved several

of the governing bodies he

dominated, including the

constitutional assembly, a

largely rubber-stamp legis-

lative chamber. The deal

would include forming a five-

member transitional gov-

ernment that would hold

elections within nine

months.

Maduro quickly rejected

the offer and vowed his

country would withstand

the pandemic with aid arriv-

ing from China, including 55

tons of testing equipment,

masks and protective gear,

respirators, antiviral medi-

cines and X-ray machines.

Iran, similarly, has lashed

out at Washington, blaming

sanctions for tying its hands

in fighting the disease.

Iran has officially

counted more than 3,

deaths after initially down-

playing and concealing the

impact of the coronavirus

and bungling its counter-

measures.

Mohammad Javad Zarif,

the foreign minister of Iran,

accused the United States of

engaging in “medical terror.”

He posted a tweet with the

word SANCTION in big red

block letters, with the O

formed by an image of the

virus that’s become em-

blematic of the pandemic.

State Department

spokeswoman Morgan

Ortagus responded angrily

to Iran’s claims. “Stop lying.

Stop stealing,” she tweeted.

“It’s the regime, not the

sanctions.”

The United Nations, in-

ternational human rights or-

ganizations and a handful of

U.S. lawmakers are calling

on Washington to ease the

sanctions to make it easier

to cope with the crisis.

“The United States

should not now be in the

business of compounding

the pain and suffering of the

people of Venezuela and

Iran, piling in on top of what

the mismanagement [by

Caracas and Tehran] has al-

ready created,” said Peter

Harrell, a fellow at the Cen-

ter for a New American Se-

curity who helped develop

sanctions against Iran

under President Obama.

A letter signed by nearly

three dozen mostly prog-

ressive members of Con-

gress urged Trump to pause

the sanctions.

“We can’t forget this is a

global pandemic that re-

quires leadership,” said Rep.

Joaquin Castro (D-Texas)

said in a statement support-

ing the letter.

The Trump administra-

tion has refused, noting that

U.S. sanctions do not apply

to medicines or most other

humanitarian aid.

Although that is techni-

cally true, by roping coun-

tries off from the interna-

tional economy, sanctions

make it extremely compli-

cated to supply humanitari-

an aid, said Richard Neph-

ew, a sanctions expert for-

merly at the State Depart-

ment and National Security

Council. The licensing sys-

tems and other mechanisms

that the U.S. has made avail-

able for obtaining humani-

tarian equipment are con-

fusing and burdensome, and

few banks are willing to deal

with capitals that Washing-

ton holds as pariahs.

Some critics argue that

the Trump administration

may be hoping that the bur-

den of the coronavirus crisis

will be the final straw that

topples the governments of

its most hated enemies.

In announcing the indict-

ments of Maduro and his as-

sociates, Atty. Gen. William

Barr said the move during a

health crisis was well-timed

because it might persuade

Venezuelans to finally rise

up against their leaders.

“The people in Venezuela

are suffering, and they need

an effective government

that responds to the peo-

ple,” Barr said. “This is the

best way to support the Ven-

ezuelan people: to rid this

country of this corrupt ca-

bal.”

Pompeo denied the U.S.

was exploiting the health

crisis, saying that the ad-

ministration has even of-

fered medical aid to those

governments but that they

refused it. He also suggested

the administration could yet

reconsider easing the sanc-

tions at some point.

“We evaluate all of our

policies constantly,” Pom-

peo told reporters this week.

“So the answer is, would we

ever rethink it? Of course.

We’re constantly trying to

make sure we have our poli-

cies right.”

Bulos and Wilkinson

reported from Beirut and

Washington, respectively.

Special correspondent Mery

Mogollon in Caracas

contributed to this report.

Ire over U.S. refusal to lift sanctions

MUNICIPAL WORKERSclean a neighborhood in Caracas, Venezuela, on Thursday. President Nicolas

Maduro has accused the U.S. of using the COVID-19 pandemic to corner him and his socialist government.

Federico ParraAFP/Getty Images

Iran, Venezuela and

others accuse White

House of exploiting

pandemic to further

pressure them.

By Tracy Wilkinson
and Nabih Bulos