Venezuelan and U.S. Relations Have Difficult Week

During a very busy week for Venezuelan and U.S. relations, Venezuelan officials have accused the U.S. State Department (particularly the new American ambassador to Columbia, Kevin Whitaker) of conspiring to kill President Nicholas Maduro. These allegations seem to be a way to defuse the tension on Venezuela's potential human rights violations and propel them onto the U.S.. The State Department responded to this with a statement that called the allegations "baseless and false". They have stated that they have seen Venezuela try to distract from its own actions by blaming the U.S. many times.

This week, the House of Representatives has talked about freezing the assets of Venezuelan officials in the U.S. that could be held accountable for these human rights violations during the country's recent anti-government protests. Furthermore, the Senate has also decided not to place sanctions on Venezuela. Administration officials said the timing wasn't right and that the sanctions might harm potential discussions between Venezuela's government and the opposition.

It seems that the U.S. is attempting to keep Venezuela accountable for their potential human rights violations, by intervening where it can here on U.S. soil. I'm not sure what reaction the Venezuelan government will have to the frozen U.S. assets, but as their recent allegations show, I'm sure it will be theatrical.

Posted by Evy Lopez

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