US Democrats vow to reset Venezuela policy

A Democratic administration should abandon President Donald Trump's Venezuela policy and focus on addressing humanitarian needs of the Venezuelan people, according to a draft policy platform unveiled ahead of the party's virtual convention next month.

Policy contours outlined by the non-binding platform suggest that the US could relax its oil sanctions grip on the Opec producer and resume dialogue with Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro's government if presumptive Democratic nominee, former vice president Joe Biden, is elected president. Party platforms typically reflect preferences of Democratic officials, providing a direction for a future administration.

The document, and statements by Biden and his advisers, does not specify whether the US under his leadership would reconsider its recognition of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido's claim to power. The White House in January 2019 recognized Guaido as the country's interim leader, imposed sanctions on the country's oil sector and declared Maduro's departure from office to be a key US priority. But Maduro remains in charge, and Guaido's authority is manifested, most prominently, in his nominal control of US refiner Citgo.

"We will reject President Trump's failed Venezuela policy, which has only served to entrench Nicolas Maduro's dictatorial regime and exacerbate a human rights and humanitarian crisis," the Democratic party document says.

Guaido's claim to power, in his capacity as Venezuelan National Assembly speaker, may be slipping from his hands. The legislature's five-year terms ends in January. The opposition is divided over whether to participate in a 6 December election organized by a Maduro-controlled electoral board.

Guaido, during a visit to Washington in February, received accolades from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, underpinned by a bipartisan view of Maduro's rule as a dictatorship.

But the Venezuelan opposition's close ties to the Trump administration appear to have cost it some goodwill among Democrats.

"Democrats believe that the best opportunity to rescue Venezuela's democracy is through smart pressure and effective diplomacy, not empty, bellicose threats untethered to realistic policy goals and motivated by domestic partisan objectives," the party document says.

Many Democrats have viewed Trump's Venezuela policy as an electoral ploy to appeal to US voters of Cuban and Venezuelan descent in Florida, a swing state in the US presidential election in November.

Former White House national security adviser John Bolton, the architect of US sanctions policy against Venezuela, in a recent memoir partially validates that view, contending that Trump had Florida politics on his mind as he backed the Venezuelan opposition.

The book revealed divisions within US government agencies on imposition of sanctions and their ultimate goal, with Trump's proposed military intervention being shot down by his advisers.

A Democratic administration is likely to revisit the same issues, but a call for "effective diplomacy" means more active participation in efforts by Norway, the EU, Mexico and Uruguay to settle Venezuela's political crisis through humanitarian aid and dialogue — including with the Maduro government.

In the current context, that may require expanding humanitarian relief exemptions for Venezuela's oil sector and state-owned PdV. Trump's administration, instead, is looking to further tighten the sanctions regime by ending a diesel exemption that enables PdV's foreign partners to supply the fuel in exchange for crude.

The Democratic platform's Venezuela plank also has a domestic US electoral component, vowing to grant 'temporary protected status' to Venezuelan refugees in the US — granting them a path toward eventual US citizenship. Trump's White House has refused to contemplate such a move, which would contradict its restrictive approach to legal migration.

Democrats also vow to restore former president Barack Obama's policy of normalizing relations with Cuba. Trump's officials long complained about Havana's undue influence over Caracas, but their solution has been to gradually restore the once-substantial sanctions against Cuba, which only strengthened Cuban-Venezuelan ties.

By Haik Gugarats