i find it verging on hilarious watching the empire dance about and am reminded of a quote i read somewhere: these are my principles and if you don't like them i have others. the persecution of venezuela like that of cuba and iran and many others is because they won't bend the knee but now that the empire faces an oil problem all of a sudden all is forgiven as long as you sell us some oil. i support all of those countries that refuse to bend the knee as i oppose all empires and bullies;

Aletho News

The Biden administration faced strong bipartisan criticism over recent direct talks with the Venezuelan government.

News outlets reported that in light of criticism from hardline sympathizers of the Venezuelan opposition, the Biden administration had suspended its direct talks with the Venezuelan government but that a deal to lift some US sanctions in exchange for restarting oil sales to the US was still on the table.

Washington recently ordered the suspension of Russian oil imports, leaving the US desperate to find other sources of crude as rising energy prices threaten to create a domestic crisis for the Democrats ahead of midterm elections in November.

Despite the lack of diplomatic relations stemming from the US’ refusal to recognize the results of the 2018 presidential election, Caracas and Washington have maintained back-channel communications. These talks led to the first direct exchange between the US and Venezuelan governments in years, which came at Washington’s request.

News of the encounter was met with a vehement condemnation from both Republican politicians such as Senator Marco Rubio and fellow Democrats such as Florida’s Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a longtime supporter of the Venezuelan opposition.........read more.........