Miguel Tinker Salas: US once again alone at Americas summit

Miguel Tinker Salas: US once again alone at Americas summit
April 14, 2015

The Obama administration wants to make Venezuela the new Cuba.

In December, shortly after President Barack Obama announced that he wanted to re-establish diplomatic relations with Cuba, he ironically declared his intention to impose sanctions on Venezuelan officials. Then in March, he signed an executive order stating that Venezuela constituted an “unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.”

First the facts. Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, is approximately 1,370 miles from Miami. The Venezuelan government does not possess any long-range missile systems and it has threatened neither the United States nor any other countries in the region.

So, what’s behind the sanctions? The penalties target military, security and justice officials who the United States claims were involved in cracking down on anti-government demonstrators last February and March. However, these were not peaceful or even pro-democracy protesters. Groups burned building, schools, blocked highways and even strung wire across roads, leading to several deaths. In the end, 43 people from both political sides were killed during the agitation. A year later, the Obama administration imposed sanctions.

Interestingly, when faced with the disappearance of 43 students by government forces in the state of Guerrero, Mexico, the Obama administration has largely remained silent. Obama even welcomed Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto to the White House in January, providing political cover to an embattled leader.

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