Rome, June 26 (RHC)-- Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza delivered a speech Tuesday at the 41st Session of the Food and Agriculture Organization in which he affirmed that the government of Nicolas Maduro has placed agriculture as a priority in an effort to reduce Venezuela’s dependence on oil.

"Venezuela is a producer country of oil and energy, and the rentier oil model was imposed on us, we were forced to produce crude oil and export it," Arreaza said arguing that up until the mid-20th century, his country was a food producer before the fields were abandoned and before “a rural migration to the city.  Our population is centered in the north."

The Venezuelan top diplomat went on to say: "President Nicolas Maduro warned that the rentier model is over.  In developing the Bolivarian economic agenda, agriculture was placed as a priority."

His speech comes as the country suffers a severe economic war by the United States that has targeted the country’s oil industry, which makes up most of Venezuela’s income.  Arreaza said that such a blockade has also hindered the government’s ability to continue the efforts of reviving the agriculture sector.

"We live under a blockade, our country is subjected to a blockade.  In Portugal, there is a bank that has blocked us from more than 6 billion euros that were designated to purchase seeds and fertilizers."