Some House Democrats, including Rep. Gregory Meeks, the ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, have called on the Biden administration to provide sanctions relief for Venezuela:
A group of House Democrats called on the Biden administration to ease sanctions on Venezuela, make more aid available and assess the conditions necessary for a possible re-establishment of diplomatic relations in an effort to alleviate the economic crisis there.
This is the second appeal for Venezuela sanctions relief from House Democrats in recent months. The signatories of the May letter urged the administration to lift sanctions on both Venezuela and Cuba and framed it as a way to ease the migration crisis at the border. The new appeal focuses on Venezuela policy and the destructive effects of U.S. sanctions on that country.
The House members are right that “to purposefully continue contributing to economic hardship experienced by an entire population is immoral and unworthy of the United States.” It is encouraging that there are many members of Congress objecting to this policy and urging the administration to change course. Just by shining a light on the destruction caused by broad sanctions, these House members are doing valuable work in challenging a monstrous status quo.
The bankruptcy and cruelty of our current Venezuela policy are undeniable, as is its failure. There was very little dissent against this policy when it began, and until quite recently there was almost no criticism of it coming from Congress. The growing recognition that the policy has made things much worse for the people of Venezuela may be having an effect on the debate surrounding sanctions relief.
It is often politically dangerous for elected officials to propose sanctions relief because these officials are then accused of supporting the authoritarian government in the other country. It is usually much safer for politicians to cheer on sanctions no matter how much misery they cause, because the victims of the policy are overseas and can’t punish the politicians responsible for their hardship. The fact that so many members of the president’s party have been willing to go on the record calling for sanctions relief represents important progress in the fight against policies of collective punishment. The involvement of several prominent members in leadership positions is another sign that the political calculations on this issue may be changing.
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Daniel Larison writes at Eunomia. He is former senior editor at The American Conservative. He has been published in Antiwar.com, the New York Times Book Review, Dallas Morning News, World Politics Review, Politico Magazine, Orthodox Life, Front Porch Republic, The American Scene, and Culture11, and was a columnist for The Week. He holds a PhD in history from the University of Chicago, and resides in Lancaster, PA. Follow him on Twitter.
