Risk management and political conditionality of international cooperation in Venezuela during COVID-19

Abstract

This This article examines the implementation in Venezuelaof the risk managemen model known as the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR, 2015), or Sendai Framework to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as political conditionality by Official Development Aid  (OAD) donors in this context. It explores the political decisions and measures taken by the government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, when the first cases of contagion were barely confirmed in the Chinese city of Wuhan, subsequently ratified on January 3rd, 2020, by Official Communiqué of the World Health Organization (WHO), from which life cycle of disaster risk management, policies, decisions and practices adopted in Venezuela, are assessed. On the other hand, the political intentionality of International Cooperation is addressed through the Official Development Aid (OAD), revealing patterns that inspire donor action in the face of the ideological needs and alignments that recipient nations assume. It is concluded that the continued subordination of human rights and democracy to other domestic and foreign policy concerns, in particular economic interest, make it clear that in the face of the serious endemic situation that is currently going through the planet as well as in the Venezuelan nation, decisions taken on OAD not only undermine the credibility and legitimacy of some leaders, but also limit the impact and effectiveness of risk management, in the face of what can already be classified as a disaster.