In an op-ed for the Miami Herald, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) blasted the Biden Administration for its continued appeasement of the Maduro regime in Venezuela, calling the renewal of oil exportations to the country after it imprisoned opposition leader Maria Corina Machado "like handing a bone to a dog after it’s bitten your friend."
"Since entering office, Biden has weakened economic sanctions on Venezuela, allowed U.S. oil company Chevron to resume operations there, and reduced U.S. support for the opposition," wrote Sen. Rubio, referring to the November decision that permitted Chevron to produce oil in Venezuela, which was met with hostility by Florida Republicans.
The apparent reasoning, Sen. Rubio continued, was to try and coax Maduro into moving in a more democratic direction. "Instead of loosening its grip, however, the dictatorship has only tightened it," as Rubio put it.
He cited testimony from Machado, who called the Maduro regime "a criminal tyranny" that has handed the country over to "Russia, China, Iran, terrorist organizations, guerrillas and drug traffickers," and from Office of Homeland Security Investigations director Michael Renaud, who described Venezuela's illegal flights transporting "tons of cocaine. Imagine what they can do with gold."
Rubio stated the only way to rein in Maduro was to engage in "maximum pressure," echoing similar comments made by Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), who recently said, "Freedom is rarely won when you take the boot off the neck of the oppressor."
To this end, Rubio called for the rescinding of Chevron's license to operate in Venezuela, sanctioning the country's allies, designating the regime and its paramilitary "colectivos" as terrorist organizations, forming an independent Commission of Inquiry in the United Nations, and blocking Venezuela from the Organization of American States, the International Monetary Fund, and the Inter-American Development Bank.
"This is a lot to expect from the left-leaning Biden administration. But, in the end, it’s just common sense. Venezuela is ruled by a criminal enterprise fundamentally opposed to America’s national interest. No amount of appeasement will change that," Rubio concluded.
