A commentator says she believes an “economic war” waged by the United States is to blame for Venezuela’s massive economic difficulties.

Gloria Estela La Riva, a Latin America expert, told Press TV on Tuesday that, “Venezuela has the largest oil reserves by far in the world. This is part of the reason why they are attacked by the US government, part of the reason that there is other campaigns of destabilization going on.”

“The US is fining banks, [it] is trying to shut down [the] bank accounts of Venezuela all around the world. It is an economic war,” La Riva said.

“The US is trying to break up the Petrocariba, the agreement [under which] Venezuela provides oil to Caribbean nations and [under which] they in return provide goods like food [and] rice on a very fair basis. Oil is the key.”

Venezuela is in a fourth year of recession, hamstrung by shortages of basic goods and stalled public services.

Venezuela on Monday announced that it was dropping five zeros from its new banknotes in an attempt to mitigate hyperinflation in the Latin American country. – Press TV