Biden Administration Rejects Maduro’s Call to Lift Venezuela Sanctions

US sanctions on Venezuela have done nothing but hurt the civilian population

The Biden administration has rejected a call from Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to lift crushing sanctions on the South American country that were imposed by the Trump administration.

In an interview last week, Maduro said President Biden should lift sanctions and normalize relations with Venezuela. Responding to Maduro’s comments in an email to Bloomberg, a State Department spokesman said a change in Venezuela policy would only be done if Maduro engages with Juan Guaido, who the US recognizes as interim president of Venezuela even though Maduro holds the office.

The State Department spokesman’s comments mean that Biden is pursuing the same failed regime change policy as Trump. The US first recognized Guaido as president in January 2019. After a failed coup attempt, Guaido lost what little support he had inside Venezuela and has become increasingly irrelevant ever since.

President Trump first sanctioned Venezuela in 2017 and increased the measures throughout his presidency. Venezuela is now essentially under a US embargo. The only thing Trump’s policy has done is increased the suffering of ordinary Venezuelans. By choosing to keep the sanctions, Biden is continuing the economic warfare against the Venezuelan people.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.