Pak Sahafat – Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s return to political power in Brazil marked another victory for leftist forces in Latin America, a region where US President Joe Biden’s efforts to isolate Venezuela now have fewer allies than in the past.
According to Pak Sahafat News Agency’s report on Wednesday, quoting Newsweek magazine, US decisions on Venezuela date back to January 2019 during the presidency of Donald Trump, who severed relations with the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro after the election of opposition leader Juan Guaido.
To this day, Guaidó remains the recognized leader of Venezuela by the United States, although he has not been able to take power.
But Maduro remains stubbornly in power and on Monday called Lula to congratulate him on his election as Brazil’s president. This is the latest change to place more geopolitical cards in the region in favor of the president of Venezuela.
A few months ago, the region saw another dramatic change, with the Colombian leftist Gustavo Petro replacing Ivan Duque, the country’s conservative president. Petro tried to establish relations with Maduro and met him personally on Tuesday.
For Biden, this situation is another blow to his administration’s strategy for the Western Hemisphere, the vulnerability of which was fully exposed recently at the Summit of American States hosted by the United States in Los Angeles.
The gathering, which was supposed to be used to showcase Washington’s leadership in the region, was boycotted by several Latin American leaders due to the exclusion of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
The tough position of the Biden administration is contrary to the position of the former US President Barack Obama, who broke the ice with Cuba during his tenure, when Biden was the Vice President of the United States.
But Obama-era de-escalation with Cuba took a turn during Trump’s presidency, as Trump increased sanctions against Havana, Caracas and Managua.
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When the US first tried to oust Maduro four years ago, the ensuing crisis tore the international community apart. A number of America’s closest partners and allies around the world backed Guaido at the time, although some prominent rivals, including China, Russia and Iran, used their influence to help Maduro.
Since then, the three powers have expanded their cooperation with Venezuela as their relationship with the United States has soured.
This report further states: One of the internal priorities of the Biden administration on the eve of the mid-term congressional elections has been to try to reduce the rising costs of fuel. Among these measures was the dispatch of a delegation from the Biden administration to Caracas in the early days of the Ukraine war, although little change was achieved in the established policy.
John Kavanagh, senior adviser at the Institute for Policy Studies, told Newsweek that any new initiatives, even those based on reducing the burden on American consumers, must be guided by a domestic right-wing bloc bolstered by Cuban and Venezuelan immigrants.
Jose Chalhoub, an analyst of oil issues in Venezuela, also mentioned these restrictions and told Newsweek: These things continue to play an important role against any significant progress in relation to the current government to lift the sanctions against Maduro.
He added that the Biden government has made it clear that it is seeking to resume political negotiations with the opposition, negotiations that are now divided and highly discredited.
The analyst argued that Washington should take a more pragmatic approach after Lula’s victory in Brazil and also pay attention to Venezuela.
He added: Juan Guaidó lost everything he and his political team and supporters had gained with the support of Washington and more than 30 countries, because nothing significant has happened in terms of achieving the goal of regime change or political power in a country that is still involved.
Chalhoub said: After the US mid-term elections, we may have a clearer picture of Washington’s actions in relation to this region.