Biden must reverse his disastrous Venezuela policy

To be honest, the Biden administration’s Venezuela policy has failed, and predictably failed. Just three months after unilateral sanctions against Maduro’s government were lifted in October, the consequences are painfully clear.

Far from steering Caracas toward democratic opening, Mr. Biden’s attempts to approach the country will only embold Mr. Maduro to crack down on opposition leaders and even take steps towards an armed invasion of neighboring Guyana.

The time has come to align U.S. and Venezuelan policies with reality. The Maduro regime is a criminal dictatorship that only cares about its own survival. But far from recognizing this, the Biden administration is desperately trying to rebuild its ill-fated Venezuela strategy, responding to the Maduro regime’s efforts to stage sham elections this year in which the regime would choose its own opponents. Looks like it’s ready.

Washington’s main defense of the move to lift major sanctions on industries ranging from state oil company PDVSA to the gold industry, which relies on illegal mining, widespread environmental destruction and transnational crime, is that this could threaten the Maduro regime. It was meant to be stimulating. Hold free and fair elections in 2024.

Of course, the effect was the opposite. Since the lifting of sanctions, Maduro’s government has been working to overturn the results of opposition primaries in which more than 1 million Venezuelans elected Maria Colina Machado as opposition leader. President Maduro not only banned Machado from voting, but also launched a new political crackdown on Machado’s team and others. arrest With over a dozen of Machado’s aides, imprisonment Renowned human rights activist Rocio San Miguel.

The Maduro regime, emboldened by Biden, is evenly matched. prepare the ground Annexation of neighboring Guyana’s oil-rich Essequibo territory. Although this may be a more violent and deliberate distraction, the possibility of invasion should not be ignored. The destructive nature of the Maduro regime has once again come to light.

So far, the Biden administration’s response has been to blur its stated red lines and demands to avoid a full reinstatement of sanctions.

This is not surprising. Immediately after his inauguration, Biden took his foot off the sanctions pedal, suspending new targeted sanctions against Venezuela that had been imposed under the Trump administration, and well before sweeping changes to sanctions announced in October. Many of the regulations that were put in place were repealed.

For example, more than a year before the general and unilateral lifting of sanctions on the oil and gold sector, Biden had already steadily lifted restrictions on the Venezuelan oil sector and also imposed sanctions on Chevron. permission Then, as now, Washington’s actions emboldened Venezuela’s dictatorship. The Maduro government responded to the lifting of these restrictions as follows: leave From mediation negotiations with opposition parties in Mexico City.

Unfortunately, Biden learned nothing from this. What we have seen in Venezuela since October is nothing more than an acceleration of the Biden administration’s previously failed policy approach. But this time, the Maduro regime’s actions were so blatant that Biden was forced to set new red lines for Venezuela and warn that sanctions would be reimposed in April.progress” About free and fair elections.

President Maduro appears ready to call Biden’s bluff. His bet has a solid rationale. After all, the new sanctions deadline in April actually replaces an identical sanctions deadline. Novembermeterdeadline The US set it last year but ignored it. To make matters worse, the Biden administration and its allies now appear to be working with Maduro to remove Maria Colina Machado from the 2024 elections. Indeed, despite Machado’s landslide victory in last year’s opposition primaries, the administration’s public statements and engagement with the Maduro government have conspicuously omitted any mention of him. The same goes for Biden’s allies in Congress.Recent disclosures at the Foreign Affairs Committee round table For example, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) reiterated the point in his meeting with Machado that negotiations between Maduro and the rebels are “not about one person, it’s a process.”

But no amount of spin can change the fact that the criminal Maduro regime remains the greatest threat to stability in the Western Hemisphere. Through material support for transnational drug trafficking organizations, the weaponization of immigration into the United States, and the strengthening of America’s presence, Iranits bellicose actions against China, Russia, and their neighbors in the Americas have proven that the criminal regime in Caracas is completely incompatible with peace and prosperity in the region.

It doesn’t have to be this way. All that can change if Mr. Biden ends his appeasement policy and recognizes that socialist narco-dictators like Mr. Maduro will never actively pave the way for his own electoral ouster. Mr. Biden could reverse his course and apply pressure through the reimposition of sanctions targeting Venezuela’s international criminal support structure and decisively strengthen its truly pro-democracy leadership.

In addition, the United States and the international community recognize Maria Colina Machado’s valuable efforts to put pressure on the Maduro dictatorship from within Venezuela by demanding her security and ability to participate in internationally monitored elections. I would be able to support and clearly and unequivocally support Maria Colina Machado.

If Biden refuses to change course, Congress must act to hold the administration accountable for its failures and force it to honor its promise to reimpose sanctions.

Andres Martínez Fernández is a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation Allison Center for National Security.