(John Ransom, Headline USA) Now even top Senate Democrats are questioning the Biden strategy on trying to lower the price of energy by appealing to Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro to sell America oil.
“Nicolas Maduro is a cancer to our hemisphere and we should not breathe new life into his reign of torture and murder,” Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, said, according to the Washington Examiner.
“As such, I would strongly oppose any action that fills the pockets of regime oligarchs with oil profits while Maduro continues to deprive Venezuelans of basic human rights, freedoms, and even food,” Menendez said.
“we are going to send billions of dollars to the Saudis, Iran, and Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela; and at the same time we’re going to embrace green energy, which means giving the government of China complete control over a power grid here in America.” https://t.co/uCJMiy0cHf
— Bart Marcois (@bmarcois) March 9, 2022
Over last weekend news broke of the Biden administration’s approach to Venezuela to sell oil to offset some of the oil that the world will lose if Russian sanctions on oil sales are effective. Maduro has been eager to sell oil to the US, to provide relief to his sanctioned-ravaged economy.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal has called Biden’s outreach to Venezuela and Saudi Arabia “bizarre,” because he has not reached out to US oil producers or Canadian oil producers, while courting what he previously classified as “pariah” states.
Menendez previously had warned about propping up one oligarch in Venezuela in order to punish another oligarch in Moscow.
“But the Biden administration’s efforts to unify the entire world against a murderous tyrant in Moscow should not be undercut by propping up a dictator under investigation for crimes against humanity in Caracas,” said a statement from Menendez’s Senate office.
Menendez was joined by his Senate colleagues in the GOP, Senator Marco Rubio and Senator Rick Scott, both of Florida, in criticizing the Venezuela talks.
“Rather than produce more American oil he wants to replace the oil we buy from one murderous dictator with oil from another murderous dictator,” said a Tweet from Rubio.
The sentiment was echoed by Scott.
“We should stop importing Russian oil, period. And we shouldn’t be going to Venezuela. … When are we going to learn that we can’t be relying on these thugs?” Scott said, according to CBS News Miami.
Still, some Democrats are overjoyed because in the wake of the talks Venezuela agreed to release two American oil executives they were holding hostage, according to the Associated Press.
And at least Venezuela hasn’t invaded Guyana, but there is still three years to go under Biden. Maybe soon Biden will have to offset the Venezuelan oil we sanction later with Russian oil.
