Secretary of State Tillerson rallies support for Venezuela sanctions
Rex Tillerson will kick off a week-long trip to Latin America by meeting with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto in Mexico City today; he will then visit Argentina, Peru and Colombia, before heading home via Jamaica.
The focus of the SoS’ trip will be the growing crisis in Venezuela, as all of his hosts are members of the Lima Group, a Latin American collective designed to coordinate a response to the political and economic turmoil in the Bolivarian country.
Throughout his trip, Tillerson is expected to rally support for Washington’s use of sanctions to force democratic change in Venezuela—a strategy that contrasts the Lima Group’s attempt to foster political dialogue.
With severe food and medicine shortages and inflation expected to hit 13,000% this year, it is the Venezuelan people that suffer most from the sanctions; indeed, Nicolas Maduro has continued to strengthen his grip on power despite the country’s economic crisis. As such, the Lima Group will likely stay the diplomatic course, despite Tillerson’s appeal.
Start your day with an open-source intelligence briefing. Download The Daily Brief app.
