Venezuela's government on Wednesday called for the release of frozen assets to help raise funds for the country's recovery from last month's twin earthquakes that killed at least 3,600 people. "We call upon all countries currently holding blocked funds belonging to Venezuela to initiate a plan to release these funds so that they can be used for recovery efforts," Foreign Minister Yvan Gil Pinto told a meeting of UN officials and partners. "There are accounts belonging to the Venezuelan state in various parts of the world that have been frozen as a result of illegal sanctions."