Former President Donald Trump’s decision to extend protection status to Venezuelans hours before leaving office has sparked praise and speculation about the timing of the move.
Venezuelan exiles are among Trump’s most loyal supporters and are elated at the last-minute move. For years, Republican and Democratic members of Congress have lobbied for protection status. The shift to the deferred forced boarding program for Venezuelans contrasts sharply with Trump’s hardline immigration policies.
The executive order postpones for 18 months the removal of Venezuelans who were at risk of being sent back to their country. Trump cited the “deteriorating state” in Venezuela, which poses a threat to national security, as the reason for his decision.
There is “euphoria” among Venezuelans and “some confusion” about who benefits and for how long, said José Oropeza, of the Venezuelan-American Republican Alliance. He called the measure “an important first step” for the hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who applied for asylum, some of whom are in detention centers.
Trump also issued comprehensive financial sanctions on Tuesday against three individuals, 14 business entities and six ships accused of aiding Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, of evading previous sanctions that tried to prevent Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from profiting from sales of Petroleum.
Courting Venezuelan voters in Florida, Joe Biden said during his 2020 campaign that he would offer Temporary Protection Status, which is almost identical to the Deferred Forced Departure program, if he became president.
Speculation about the weather
There has been speculation about the timing of the executive order and the possibility of Trump’s daughter Ivanka running for a seat in the United States Senate in Florida. The former senior White House adviser is expected to move to Florida, where she and her husband, Jared Kushner – also a former senior adviser – have rented a condominium in a luxury building in South Florida. They also spent $ 32 million on a beachfront lot on exclusive Indian Creek Island, just a few miles from the condo.
There were more than 400,000 Venezuelans in the United States in 2017, a number that is higher now due to the constant flow of exiles. The largest concentration of Venezuelans is in Florida, where many Trump supporters remain steadfast.
Biden’s choice to be secretary of state, Antony Blinken, showed continued support for Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó during his Senate confirmation hearing.
Blinken said he would continue to recognize Guaidó as Venezuela’s interim president and suggested that he has no illusions of an eventual dialogue with Maduro, whom he called a “brutal dictator”.
Blinken also expressed frustration with the results of the previous policy towards Venezuela. “We need an effective policy that can restore democracy in Venezuela, starting with free and fair elections,” he said.
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