Biden's Latam Agenda Won't Be Different, Expert Says

The Tricontinental Institute for Social Research Director Vijay Prashad warned that the U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's administration will most likely follow the Latin America agenda pursue by past administrations.

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“Although he may shed outgoing president Donald Trump’s approach to countries like Cuba and Venezuela, his administration will stick to the basic contours of traditional U.S. policy,” Prashad recalled and explained that the policy gap between Biden and Trump is not as coherent as it seems. 

According to his latest analysis, which was published in Frontline, the U.S. is not interested in making a real policy shift, but a change in strategy to enact that policy.

The successive U.S. governments have implemented unilateral measures against Cuba, Venezuela, and over 20 other countries. Biden's advisers assured that the president-elect will not make major changes to lift them and promote multilateralism.

“The U.S will be focussed on using all the non-military tools we can bring to bear,” Biden’s National Security Adviser-designate Jake Sullivan said.

Sullivan's words mean that “the U.S. will double down on the sanctions pieces and continue to build the international coalition with them,” Prashad added.

In December, anonymous sources told Bloomberg that the Biden would welcome a dialogue with Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, but only if the Bolivarian leader held new elections in his country.

According to Prashad, such a precondition is unacceptable. New elections would be against the Venezuelan Constitution, and it would represent an intolerable interference in its internal political process.

“The Biden administration's mood will differ from Trump’s. The smiles will be broader as the sneers will be hidden for the back rooms,” Prashad assured.