Why is the U.S. pushing regime change in Venezuela during a pandemic?

[Judi Lynn]

Why is the U.S. pushing regime change in Venezuela during a pandemic?

By Editorial Board
April 2, 2020 at 2:56 p.m. CDT

THE “DEMOCRATIC transition framework” for Venezuela laid out by the Trump administration this week was described by some as a compromise, since it proposes that both regime leader Nicolás Maduro and U.S.-backed opposition head Juan Guaidó give up their dueling claims to be president in favor of a transitional government in which the two sides would share power.

In essence, however, the new U.S. plan has the same premise as previous strategies: that elements of Mr. Maduro’s party and Venezuela’s armed forces can be induced to overthrow him, purge his closest associates, release all political prisoners, expel Cuba’s agents from the country and agree with the opposition on democratic elections. In more than a year of applying “maximum pressure” on Caracas, the administration has not come close to achieving that outcome. That raises the question of why the State Department’s initiative has appeared at a time when both the United States and Venezuela are under severe threat from the covid-19 pandemic.

One answer is that administration officials hope to leverage the emergency. “There’s a lot more pressure on the regime,” Elliott Abrams, the State Department’s special envoy for Venezuela, told reporters. He was referring to the recent collapse in the price of oil, which has made it harder than ever for Venezuela to market its principal export, which was already impeded by U.S. sanctions. Mr. Abrams said the pandemic “had nothing to do with the timing.” Yet, of course, the administration is aware that Venezuela, which by Thursday had reported 144 coronavirus infections and three deaths, faces a catastrophic outcome if the disease spreads widely; 80 percent of its hospitals lack even basic supplies, including soap.

The administration has come under some pressure, including from the United Nations, to ease sanctions on Venezuela so that it can more easily obtain medical supplies. Meanwhile, some observers are saying the rollout of the new strategy, combined with the Justice Department’s announcement last week of indictments against Mr. Maduro and other regime figures, has served to derail the possibility of cooperation between the de facto government and the opposition in combating the epidemic. Mr. Guaidó has embraced the U.S. plan, and the Maduro regime has threatened to bring charges against him and arrested several of his close associates.

More:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/why-is-the-us-pushing-regime-change-in-venezuela-during-a-pandemic/2020/04/02/5fd99990-7446-11ea-a9bd-9f8b593300d0_story.html?fbclid=IwAR3MzeS-MYpRz_zVbngtFUhEPsohh6qY8fLuf2xPVzg_tmoV70jQokyZLNI

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[niyad]

1. Because the deranged dictator thinks nobody is paying attention.