Venezuela’s phony olive branch

Venezuela's phony olive branch
12/22/2014 7:12 PM 12/22/2014 7:35 PM

As expected, President Obama last week signed legislation imposing
sanctions on government officials in Venezuela responsible for violence
and human-rights violations in the wake of anti-government protests
early this year. It will allow the president to freeze assets and deny
or revoke visas of Venezuelan officials.

The president's signature is the culmination of a tireless and
persistent effort by critics of the Venezuelan government, most
prominently Sen. Marco Rubio, to do something substantive to demonstrate
American displeasure with President Nicolás Maduro's increasingly
repressive and authoritarian government.

Even those with no love for Venezuela's government had warned against
sanctions, relying on the adage that when adversaries are doing a good
job of self-destruction, by all means get out of the way and let them do
so without interference.

Mr. Maduro and his cronies have been doing a pretty good job of running
the country into the ground, all by themselves. Their currency is
cheapening by the minute, down to 180 bolivars to $1, compared to the
official rate of 6.3 to $1.

They are a generally incompetent lot, and corrupt to boot. Their
mismanagement of the economy is rivaled only by their level of contempt
for the civil liberties of the Venezuelan people.

Still, the decision to sign the sanctions bill, after months of
resistance by the White House, represents a recognition that this
country could no longer ignore the repression in Venezuela and limit its
criticisms to stern admonitions aimed at Caracas.

It is an action commensurate with the democratic values that America
upholds, including the right to self-expression and peaceful assembly.
Venezuelan officials should be held accountable for their behavior.

In an opinion article in The New York Times last week, Diosdado Cabello,
president of the Venezuelan National Assembly, wondered if the sanctions
were "an attempt to distract public opinion from the exposure of rights
violations by United States law enforcement officers," pointing to
demonstrations around the United States against the deaths of unarmed
black men at the hands of white police officers.

That belongs in the Hall of Fame of lame arguments.

First, we doubt that anyone was "distracted" by Washington's move to
impose sanctions on Venezuela. We daresay few Americans even know about
it. Even for those who follow events in Latin America, the move was
overshadowed by the decision to renew diplomatic ties with Cuba.

Second, the wholesale repression of Venezuelan civil society, complete
with fraudulent elections, press censorship and jailing of political
opponents, does not begin to compare with the generally peaceful street
protests over police shootings in this country that remain under
investigation by the Department of Justice.

And third...well, that's just a dumb argument.

Mr. Cabello said that the Venezuelan government recently "extended an
olive branch" to Mr. Obama by naming an ambassador to Washington and
inviting the U.S. administration to name an ambassador to Caracas.

He missed the point: Mr. Maduro should extend an olive branch to the
people of Venezuela, not Washington, allow political opponents like
Leopoldo López to leave prison and otherwise start behaving like the
leader of a real democracy — which Venezuela once was. Until then, the
sanctions should remain in place.

http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/editorials/article4833972.html