Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R) penned an op-ed condemning the Biden Administration’s recent visit to Colombia to meet with the new Colombian president-elect Gustavo Petro. Petro is the first leftist to get elected to the post and previously served as a guerilla fighter in his younger years.
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Governor Ron DeSantis blasted the Biden administration for conversations with leaders of Venezuela, as reports detail Biden is considering purchasing oil from the South American country.
The U.S. is looking to ease the impact of the decision to ban the purchase of Russian oil and has turned to countries like Venezuela and Iran—instead of producing energy in America.
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by Michael Bastach When Juan Guaido launched his coup attempt, oil markets didn’t do what they typically do in the face of supply threats. Instead, markets largely shrugged off Venezuelan unrest instead of sending prices soaring. That’s because of two factors: mismanagement by Venezuela’s socialist government and the U.S. energy boom. At the turn of the century, Venezuela’s daily oil production was around 3 million barrels per day, but output dramatically declined during the reign of former President Hugo Chavez, a former military officer who took control in 1999. Venezuela sits atop the world’s largest proven oil reserves. “Venezuela’s oil production has collapsed in recent years,” Juan Carlos Hidalgo, a policy analyst at the libertarian Cato Institute who specializes in Latin America, told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “Years of mismanagement, corruption and underinvestment are taking a toll,” Hidalgo said. “Oil has long been a terribly distorting factor in Venezuela’s political system.” Chavez, who essentially ruled as a socialist dictator, took several actions early on that crippled Venezuela’s long-term oil prospects, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, including firing thousands of experiences oil workers and subsidizing oil shipments to Cuba and other countries. Venezuela was also burdened by high inflation, corruption and…
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The United States increased its pressure on Venezuela Friday, imposing sanctions on six high-ranking security officials as well as revoking the visas of dozens of other high officials. The Trump administration said the sanctions were a response to Venezuelan military officials, who last weekend blocked an opposition-backed effort to bring food into the country. At one border point, aid trucks caught fire and several people died. “We are sanctioning members of (President Nicolas) Maduro’s security forces in response to the reprehensible violence, tragic deaths, and unconscionable torching of food and medicine destined for sick and starving Venezuelans,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. Those being sanctioned include National Guard Commander Richard Lopez along with police and military officials based near the Colombian or Brazilian borders. The sanctions block any assets the officials have in the United States and bar Americans from doing business with them. The U.S. State Department also revoked the travel visas of 49 Venezuelans that it said were “individuals responsible for undermining Venezuela’s democracy.” The measures are part of an effort to pressure Maduro to step down. The United States sees his re-election last year as illegitimate and has recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido…
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Trump administration stands with the U.S.-recognized interim president of Venezuela, Juan Guaido “100 percent,” Vice President Mike Pence said Monday as he announced new financial assistance for the Venezuelan people. “We stand with you, and along with all the nations gathered here today, we will keep standing with you until democracy and liberty are restored,” Pence said in a speech delivered to the Lima Group, following a trilateral meeting in Bogota, Colombia with Guiado and Colombian President Ivan Duque. Pence said disputed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro “must go.” While in Bogota, Pence and regional leaders discussed strategy to hasten the departure of Maduro and how to get humanitarian aid currently piling up on the border in Brazil and Colombia into Venezuela, where supplies of food and medicine have run low. “We’ve imposed sanctions on more than 50 top officials as well as on Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, PDVSA, to stop Maduro’s cronies from enriching themselves at the expense of the Venezuelan people,” Pence said, noting that the U.S. plans to continue to put financial and diplomatic pressure on Maduro’s regime. He added that “it is my privilege to announce that the United States will provide an additional $56 million to…
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by Evie Fordham The first shipment of humanitarian aid crossed the border from Brazil to Venezuela Saturday, Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido declared, but getting aid to the people of Venezuela continues to be beyond difficult. “This is a great accomplishment, Venezuela!” Guaido wrote on Twitter Saturday. Guaido, a 35-year-old lawmaker and president of Venezuela’s National Assembly, declared himself the country’s interim leader in January as conditions deteriorated under socialist dictator Nicolas Maduro. Guaido’s supporters are trying to bring aid shipments from Colombia and Brazil into Venezuela, but Maduro’s troops are blocking trucks both coming and going along parts of the border. Video footage from Friday showed Venezuelan soldiers erecting barricades and brawling with Guaido’s supporters to keep trucks from exiting the country to collect aid. Meanwhile, some soldiers posted on the Venezuelan border have defected from Maduro’s control. A social media video appears to show four soldiers denouncing Maduro and supporting Guaido, who has promised them “amnesty,” reported BBC. Guaido was in Colombia Saturday seeing off shipments of aid to Venezuela with Colombian president Ivan Duque, reported CBS News. Thousands of volunteers will help get the aid into Venezuela, he said according to BBC. U.S. President Donald Trump…
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Venezuelan soldiers have blocked a key border crossing to prevent the delivery of humanitarian aid from the United States and other foreign nations. A giant orange tanker and two large blue shipping containers were moved into the middle of a bridge connecting Venezuela to Colombia Wednesday, with armed guards patrolling the area to turn back any attempt to cross the border. The U.S. has pledged $20 million in aid to Venezuela, including desperately needed food and medicine, but President Nicolas Maduro has rejected the aid, arguing that Venezuela is not a nation of “beggars” and would pave the way towards a U.S. military invasion. Venezuela’s oil-backed economy is in tatters due to a collapse of world energy prices, corruption and failed socialist policies. Food, fuel, and many basic goods are in severely short supply and inflation is out of control, forcing millions of Venezuelans to flee to neighboring Colombia. The blocked humanitarian aid marks another chapter in the standoff between Maduro and Juan Guaido, the president of the opposition-controlled National Assembly who has declared himself the country’s interim president. More than 40 nations, including the U.S., Canada and many members of the European Union, have backed Guaido’s claim that he…
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by Tim Pearce Florida Democrats are praising President Donald Trump’s strong stance against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro while growing increasingly uneasy about Trump’s growing appeal with their base, Politico reports. Trump recognized Venezuelan opposition party leader Juan Guaidó as the country’s rightful president after Maduro declared victory in an election seen as illegitimate by many foreign leaders. The Trump administration is taking steps to weaken the Maduro regime, including slapping sanctions on Venezuelan oil Monday, a blow to the government’s main source of revenue. Trump followed up with a Wednesday phone call with Guaidó, reiterating his support for the opposition leader. Guaidó is under intense pressure by Maduro’s regime and the Venezuelan Supreme Court. He has been barred from leaving his country and is under a possible criminal investigation for anti-government activities. U.S. support for Guaidó is playing well with Florida’s significant Hispanic population, many of which are from or have connections in Latin American countries. “It’s been very frustrating,” Democratic state Sen. Annette Taddeo (pictured above) of Miami told Politico. “Trump is doing the right thing, and I’m not going to criticize Trump for doing the right thing because you lose credibility.” Taddeo immigrated from Colombia and represents…
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The White House says President Donald Trump reinforced his “strong support” for efforts to restore democracy in Venezuela during a conversation Wednesday with opposition leader Juan Guaido, who has proclaimed himself as the country’s president. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said Trump and Guaido also committed to maintaining “regular communication to support Venezuela’s path back to stability, and to rebuild the bilateral relationship” between the two countries. Trump said earlier Wednesday that embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is willing to negotiate with representatives of Guaido’s opposition movement to solve the political crisis in the South American nation, but warned Americans not to travel to Venezuela “until further notice.” Trump’s early morning tweet referred to Maduro’s offer to hold talks with the country’s opposition forces and hold early legislative elections. He added the threat of U.S. sanctions, including cutting off Venezuelan oil revenues, contributed to the apparent softening of Maduro’s stance. Maduro made the offer earlier Wednesday during an interview with Russia’s RIA news agency, saying he is willing to sit down at the negotiating table “for the good of Venezuela.” But he said there will not be a new presidential election until 2025, rejecting a demand by Guaido, president…
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Members of the Middle Tennessee Democratic Socialists of America refused to say Thursday whether they support America’s policy to back new Venezuelan President Juan Guaidó. As several news agencies reported this week, U.S. Republican President Donald Trump and other world leaders recognized Guaidó as the new president over President Nicolás Maduro. Maduro is a socialist and the anointed successor of the late Hugo Chávez. No one at the TNDSA returned The Tennessee Star’s repeated requests for comment Thursday. As several news agencies have already reported, people in socialist Venezuela are starving. A mass exodus of people from that country has sparked the largest migrant crisis in that region’s modern history. According to Thursday’s Daily Caller, Democratic New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has thus far not supported Trump’s decision to recognize Maduro. “Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic socialist, has not previously commented publicly on human rights offenses by the socialist regime in Venezuela,” according to The Daily Caller. As The Daily Caller went on to say, “thousands have taken to the streets in Venezuela to call for an end to the Maduro regime and a restoration of freedom in their country.” Ocasio-Cortez said Venezuela’s human rights situation and Trump’s decision to recognize Maduro’s opposition was ‘concerning.’” “Our office…
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