The President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, has assured that he will go “to hell itself”, if necessary, to get help for the Caribbean nation against the coronavirus pandemic.
“If you have to go to the same hell to ask for help for Venezuela, I will do it,” Maduro said in an appearance made late on Wednesday, according to the Venezuelan newspaper ‘El Nacional’.
Maduro formally asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for $ 5 billion on Tuesday to “strengthen the health system’s response capabilities in the containment of Covid-19.”
In the last years of political, economic and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, Maduro has accused the IMF – “honorable organism” – and other international institutions of acting as agents in the service of Washington in its supposed “economic war” against Caracas.
The IMF replied to Maduro via statement saying that “he is not in a position to consider that request” because “there is no clarity” regarding the recognition of his government by the international community.
Since January 23, 2019, when the opposition leader Juan Guaidó proclaimed himself “president in charge” of Venezuela, both maintain a pulse for being recognized as the country’s only legitimate president.
Following the IMF’s refusal, Maduro knocked on the door of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday. Maduro spoke by telephone with the WHO Director General, Tedros Adhanom, whom he asked for diagnostic tests and advice to develop a plan of action against the coronavirus in Venezuela.
“Dr. Tedros Adhanom has confirmed that the WHO will provide all the help that Venezuela needs, which is in a special situation because we are an illegally sanctioned and criminally blocked country in the midst of this global pandemic,” said Vice President Delcy Rodríguez in another appearance.
Guaidó has warned that the coronavirus could generate “incalculable damage” because “the Venezuelan State does not have the capacity to respond to this pandemic” due to the crisis it is undergoing.
For the moment, Maduro has established a “social quarantine” that, as he highlighted on social networks, Venezuelans comply “with integrity, organization and very aware of the critical moment that humanity is experiencing.” At the moment, there are 36 cases in the country.
