White House Praises Venezuelan Oil, Forgetting Sanctions
The Hill reports on a White House briefing regarding Venezuela and 'Trump-era turmoil,' smoothly overlooking the Biden administration's own policy pivot. After years of stringent sanctions crippling Venezuela's economy, the U.S. recently moved to ease some restrictions on its oil and gold sectors. This sudden flexibility, framed as navigating 'Trump-era' issues, conveniently follows global energy
market instabilities stemming from other geopolitical crises. It seems 'authoritarian regimes' only raise concerns when oil isn't needed. One might wonder how suddenly Venezuela’s leadership becomes palatable when global oil prices spike, making it an acceptable, if previously pariah, source of crude. The 'turmoil' isn't just Trump's legacy; it's a bipartisan pattern of weaponizing sanctions and
then selectively lifting them when domestic needs or allied energy security dictate. Apparently, principles are negotiable, but gas prices for the American consumer are not.