Early in his presidency, Joe Biden was eager to declare America is back on the world stage, but policy changes are slow coming. On Wednesday, Biden issued a new executive order extending the declaration of Venezuela as a “unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.”
This is an extension of an order by President Obama, which was extended by Trump. Biden’s action once again points to the continuation of the status quo in US foreign policy. Officials indicate Trump-imposed sanctions against Venezuela will also stay intact.
Trump’s Venezuela policy was defined by unilaterally declaring an opposition figure as the “legitimate” president, and then heavily sanctioning the de facto government for not accepting his decision. It’s not clear if Biden will be insisting on that same regime change that Trump was waiting on, but so long as the sanctions remain intact, that’s a distinction with little difference.
On the other hand, it continues a failed policy, as despite Trump’s declaration of Juan Guaido as the new president of Venezuela, he came no closer to taking power over the country, and the Maduro government came no closer to falling.
Keeping the US on an unfriendly track with Venezuela is perhaps not a shocking decision, as the executive order was already bipartisan. Yet it once again paints Biden as taking the safe decisions and not messing with the status quo, particularly where the existing policy was disastrously misguided.
another example of continuality in govt
I used to have a website where among other things I kept track of US “national emergencies.” Under Obama there were about a couple dozen, mostly on countries. It’s US law that national emergencies be affirmed annually, and most of them were. It’s a sad joke, not unusual in Washington. . . We should declare the US government a national emergency.
Couldnt get more Orwellian. Sadly the “respectable state friendly corporate media” have given up on critical analysis since Trump was defeated. We are screwed.
Uncle daddy Joe Biden is a racist enemy of peace and the environment.
Age disparity is insignificant when discussing senescence among Joe Biden and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
Most Americans outside the Beltway don’t exhibit such “mental acuity.”
Venezuela threatens Washington because if the sanctions are lifted their Socialist Policies would become common place in S America.
A successful Venezuela is terrifying for Biden/Blinken.
It seems to me American citizens are crying out for a litte socialism they could certainly do with it.