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New Venezuela Sanctions: Trump Trying Regime Change?

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The Washington Post reports this afternoon: “Trump tightens Venezuela’s access to U.S. financial system.”

ALEXANDER MAIN, via Dan Beeton: beeton at cepr.net @ceprdc
Main is senior associate for International Policy at the Center for Economic and Policy Research. He said today: “These new sanctions will further destabilize Venezuela by undermining efforts to alleviate widespread shortages of food and medicine, and by strengthening the hand of hardliners who oppose a negotiated solution to the country’s political crisis. Coupled with Trump’s outrageous threat of military action in Venezuela, these sanctions leave little doubt regarding the administration’s real objective in Venezuela: regime change. The sanctions are also further evidence that Republican Florida Senator Marco Rubio and other rightwing hawks that see Latin America through a Cold War lens, are now guiding U.S. policy in the region. By choosing to deliberately exacerbate the political and economic crisis in Venezuela, Trump and Rubio are significantly increasing the risk of outright civil war, just as the region is beginning to recover from over 50 years of civil war in neighboring Colombia.”

Background: “Enough About Russia? U.S. Openly Interfering in Venezuela, Violating OAS Charter.”