DeSantis Slams Biden’s Venezuela Outreach at South Florida Event
DeSantis Slams Biden’s Venezuela Outreach at South Florida Event
(Bloomberg) -- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis criticized the Biden Administration on Friday for holding talks with the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
DeSantis, a potential Republican candidate for the White House in 2024, made the remarks about Biden at a roundtable discussion in Miami with Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart and community leaders associated with the Venezuelan diaspora in South Florida.
“What the Biden administration is doing is really turning back the clock prior to the Trump administration’s policy which sought to isolate Maduro, and they’re now in a position where they’re doing these back channels, which is going to legitimize Maduro,” DeSantis said. “That’s a mistake, and it’s not something that is necessary to be able to meet America’s energy needs.”
The news last week that Maduro hosted senior U.S. officials in Caracas to discuss the easing of sanctions amid rising gasoline prices raised eyebrows in South Florida, known for its populations of both Cubans and Venezuelans who oppose the socialist governments in their home countries. With elections coming up in November, Florida Democrats quickly sought to isolate themselves from the political fallout and asked Biden to refrain from easing sanctions absent a meaningful change to the country’s “repressive dictatorship.”
DeSantis sat in front of a large monitor that read “Expand American Energy, Don’t Line Maduro’s Pockets.” He said the Biden administration was trying to figure out an “easy way out” of rising oil prices instead of increasing domestic production.
“We’re not going to let him get away with it,” DeSantis said. “We are going to fight back.”
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