DORAL, Fla. – At a shopping center in Doral, members of the Venezuelan exile community rejected the Biden Administration’s dialogue with Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro.
One Venezuelan woman bluntly stated, “You don’t do business with terrorists.”
The dialogue marks the first contact between the two countries since 2019.
The White House confirmed the trip, saying both countries talked about a range of issues, including energy security.
The White House is touting the release of two American’s they say were wrongfully detained in Venezuela.
It is still unknown what the Venezuelan government gets in return and if the U.S. will be getting oil from the authoritarian socialist country.
FIU professor and Latin America expert Eduardo Gamarra told Local 10 News’ Hatzel Vela the Russian invasion of Ukraine has changed things.
Now the U.S. has to think about how it’s going to structure its battle against Russia given our energy needs.
“Two weeks ago, the world dramatically changed,” Gamarraa said. “This administration is looking for viable alternatives to try and increase supply to maintain our price, our price at the pump, relatively acceptable to the American public.”
But given the large Venezuelan community in South Florida, it is undoubtedly a huge political risk for the Biden Administration, who has already been criticized even by senators of the president’s own party.
Senator Bob Menendez/ (D) New Jersey
200 “You don’t have to go to a dictator that ultimately has created enormous consequences for his people, that kills people, that imprisons them,” said New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, a Democrat.
It is worth noting that Biden did win the White House without Florida.
“My sense is that they are looking at the war effort above all, and this may be the sacrifice they’re asking this community to take,” said Gamarra.