Biden will lead on Venezuela and Cuba, not spout meaningless promises | Opinion
“Something will happen.”
When it comes to President Trump’s approach to Venezuela, those three words appear to be the new “all options are on the table.” And they are just as meaningless, empty, and manipulative.
That is the unmistakable takeaway from the president’s recent campaign swing through South Florida, where he stopped at the U.S. Southern Command to thump his chest.
With these three words, the president clearly sought to create the impression among South Florida voters that Nicolas Maduro (and Cuba’s Miguel Diaz-Canel, for that matter) is soon to miraculously disappear (surely hoping no one would draw the parallel to his promise that the more than 3 million coronavirus infections, resulting in 140,000 deaths — and growing — would miraculously disappear).
Make no mistake, the reprehensible Maduro regime is an affront to democracy and human rights in the Americas, even if Trump has expressed “admiration” for him. The regime’s profound corruption and repression have caused untold suffering and the hemisphere’s largest mass migration on record.
Sadly, it is also more entrenched today than it was when Trump took office — as is the similarly problematic Cuban regime.
These regimes have proven frustratingly resilient against unilateral efforts, including the current “something will happen” campaign, to isolate the countries in the hope their respective populations will rise up and overthrow them.
If courageous Venezuelans and Cubans are going to be effective agents of democratic change, the United States must empower them, not isolate them and make them increasingly less dependent on their repressers.
To advance U.S. national interests in the Americas, on this and many other fronts, we need a strong, steady, confident leader who will defend democracy, transparency, human rights, and the rule of law — at home and abroad. A leader who will align the United States as a champion of the democratic and economic aspirations of people throughout the hemisphere — not treat them as a threat to be walled out.
In my experience, former Vice President Joe Biden is that leader.
Any sound U.S. approach to Venezuela, for example, needs to start where the former vice president has promised — by assisting the Venezuelan people.
Too many of our Venezuelan friends and neighbors in the United States live under the constant fear of immigration detention and deportation. It is a fear, the president could have eliminated during his campaign swing by granting them Temporary Protected Status.
Nothing stood in his way. But instead of providing leadership and TPS, he offered empty words as if a wink and a nod substitute for meaningful action.
Trump’s cynical manipulations were not just reserved for Venezuela during his visit to Doral.
In a profoundly confused and confusing interview, the president toyed with DREAMers — recipients of President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals order — creating uncertainty as to their fate after the U.S. Supreme Court denied his effort to remove their protection from deportation.
Seemingly fearful of offending the president’s anti-immigrant base, the White House quickly clarified he was not creating a path to citizenship for DREAMers. Instead, it seems, he will continue to use them as a bargaining chip in his efforts to roll back the demographic clock to a whiter America.
But Biden understands that DREAMers deserve far better than that.
Faced with tough problems like the plight of Venezuelans, Cubans and DREAMers, empty words like “something will happen” and “all options are on the table” prey on an understandable desire for easy solutions. They hijack our imaginations to fill in the blanks.
Advancing our values and interests at home and throughout the Americas requires real leadership, not falling victim to the kind of cynical manipulations in pursuit of votes we saw recently from President Trump in South Florida.
Dan Restrepo served as special assistant to the president for Western Hemisphere Affairs from 2009 to 2012.