Venezuela denounces US 'assault' on food security at FAO

CARACAS -- Venezuelan Food Minister Carlos Leal Telleria on Tuesday denounced the United States at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for violating the Venezuelan people's right to food.

"There is a campaign, promoted by the government of the United States and its allies, to systematically assault the Venezuelan people's right to food," Leal told the 42nd session of the FAO Conference via teleconference.

US sanctions "have led to an 83.7 percent drop in food imports, preventing the international procurement of raw materials, finished products and inputs for agricultural production," said Leal.

Sanctions also target "most of the country's international and national food suppliers," he added.

In 2015, Venezuela succeeded in reducing its undernourished population by 16 percent, to just 5 percent of the population being undernourished, noted Leal.

That achievement was recognized by the FAO, which hailed Venezuela as a country "with high food security, a promoter of the right to food and a successful model," said Leal.

Despite the sanctions, Venezuela remains committed to meeting the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, including "to guarantee food as a human right," he said.