Joe Biden ended up with a bit of egg on his face this week regarding his faith in Venezuela's ability to hold free and fair elections.
After the country failed to meet its obligations, Biden was forced to reinstate the sanctions, which will further harm his climate agenda.
Talking Points…
- Biden lifts sanctions
- Venezuela fails to meet obligations
- Analysis
Dating back to last October, sanctions that Trump had placed against Venezuela to pressure the regime to have free and fair elections were coming to an end. Trump planned to buckle the economy of Venezuela to force a regime change, but when Biden came into office, he had other ideas.
Biden decided to let the sanctions expire, hoping to use the sanctions as a diplomatic tool with Venezuela, not to mention it would allow Venezuela to export oil again. I still believe this was the key behind the decision because Biden clamped down on American oil production. Biden needed Venezuelan crude to hit the global market and bring down pricing. At the time the sanctions were lifted, the Biden administration stated:
"The United States will provide limited sanctions relief primarily in the oil and gas sector in response to this important development.
"Our ultimate goal with sanctions is to bring positive change in behavior. The United States government retains the authority to amend or revoke all authorizations should Maduro and his representatives fail to follow through on their commitments."
When Biden lifted the sanctions, he came under heavy criticism from the right, with Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) ripping Biden, accusing him of "begging for oil from socialist dictators." Senator Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) also hammered Biden, calling it a "slap in the face of working Americans" for choosing foreign oil over domestic. Senator Murkowski (R-AK) was also critical, stating:
"They're easing up on the worst regimes in the world, giving them the revenues to stay in power and spread terror and corruption, while kneecapping environmentally responsible development in Alaska."
As it turns out, Murkowski hit the nail on the head. On Thursday, it was announced that Venezuela had failed to meet its free and fair elections obligations, so the sanctions were restored. Maduro, starting in October, hammered anti-socialist dissidents with yet another wave of violence, which many believe, as Murkowski had suggested, was funded by Venezuela's new influx of money from the global oil market.
Thursday marked the 6-month mark of the sanction relief, and the White House announced that the sanctions would be put back in place, stating:
"After a careful review of the current situation in Venezuela, the United States determined Nicolas Maduro and his representatives have not fully met the commitments made under the electoral roadmap agreement, which was signed by Maduro representatives and the opposition in Barbados in October 2023.
"Therefore, General License 44, which authorizes transactions related to oil or gas sector operations in Venezuela, will expire at 12:01 AM on April 18."
This is yet another failed attempt by this administration to coddle up our enemies and adversaries to win favor when this strategy has proven time and again to be disastrous. Biden is literally looking the other way in terms of human rights violations to push his climate agenda, putting our national security at risk in the process. So, once again, Trump's policy has been proven to be the right policy after Biden stripped it to the bone. The question now is whether Biden will release his death grip on domestic oil companies or continue strangling domestic energy production to push his very aggressive climate change agenda.
