With the appointment of Mauricio Claver-Carone as special envoy for Latin America, the US State Department completes a trio unusually focused on the region. Claver-Carone joins Marco RUbio, future Secretary of State, and Christopher Landau, next Undersecretary.
All three, with experience and proven interest in Latin America, have little sympathy and even less patience – to put it elegantly – towards the region’s corrupt autocracies and their shameless international allies. The Assistant Secretary for the Western Hemisphere and the Director for the Hemisphere in the National Security Council still need to be appointed.
Additionally, Michael Waltz, appointed as National Security Advisor, has a track record in the region. In Congress, he promoted the Bolívar Law (although I personally do not like the name of the Liberator being used for these purposes), which seeks to toughen sanctions against the regime of Nicolás Maduro.
Recently, Richard Grenell was named special envoy for complex global situations, with emphasis on North Korea and Venezuela. This appointment underscores Donald Trump’s commitment to resolving these challenges during his second administration. The contrast with Joe Biden’s management is abysmal.
Neither Jake Sullivan nor Antony Blinken have shown interest in Latin America, a region that seems to make them uncomfortable. His key appointments – such as Juan Sebastián González and Brian Nichols – reflect that indifference, and the results are clear: mistakes in Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela.
Although they now celebrate Javier Milei, they did everything possible to support the continuity that Sergio Massa represented. In Venezuela, facing January 10 – a crucial date that falls under the mandate of the outgoing administration – the lack of action by Sullivan and Blinken is notable and inexcusable. They have done less than 5% of what was necessary, compared to the efforts they deployed to ensure that Bernardo Arévalo assumed the presidency in Guatemala.
While they were brave against Giammattei, in front of Maduro and company they have been equivocal and cowardly. At the outset they prefer to ignore a crisis that they consider secondary. However, they will not hesitate to take credit for the 28J elections in Venezuela, attributing them to their ‘great negotiation’ with Maduro in Doha and Milan.
This is nothing more than impudence and irresponsibility. Since March 2022, when Juan S. Gónzález and James B. Story were sent to Miraflores, their policy towards Venezuela has been a disaster. That trip marked a fateful slip, with the White House leaking to the New York Time that they were seeking to separate Maduro from Putin.
The result? A monumental failure. It is unfortunate that crucial dates for the future of Venezuela coincide with the closure of a gray administration, which leaves the Venezuelan crisis worse than it found it. However, starting at 12:00 PM on January 20, if Nicolás Maduro chooses to continue usurping power with the support of corrupt military personnel, he will face a team willing to support without hesitation and without pause the democratic epic led by Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia and carried out by the vast majority of the Venezuelan people.
