United States Foreign Policy
U.S. Foreign Policy – Venezuela The foreign policy of the Trump administration is struggling to deal with the ongoing crisis in Venezuela. This country should be a prosperous and economic powerhouse; it has the largest known oil reserves in the world. Unfortunately, Venezuela is in the midst of a horrific economic collapse precipitated by the policies of President Nicolás Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chávez. The International Monetary Fund projects Venezuelas rate of inflation will exceed 2,300 percent in 2018. Chavez and Maduro instituted disastrous economic policies that have left many in the country in near starvation. As a result, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have fled to neighboring countries. The U.S. recently placed sanctions on individual Venezuelan officials, with the potential of adding more sanctions if needed. But unless the situation changes in Venezuela, the U.S. may need to prepare for a full-blown revolution. (Links to an external site.) Write our standard 2-5 page college-level essay about United States foreign policy options with respect to Venezuela. What, if anything, should the U.S. do? If you were advising President Trump, what would you recommend? (Remember, this isn’t an essay about Venezuela – it’s an essay about U.S. foreign policy options regarding Venezuela. Don’t spend the whole essay telling your reader about its rich cultural heritage and this year’s banana exports, ok?) Submit in Word. Cite your sources. Additional Resources As our semester begins, major changes seem eminent: https://www.npr.org/2019/01/23/687643405/anti-maduro-protesters-march-in-cities-across-venezuela (Links to an external site.) and: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/23/world/americas/venezuela-protests-guaido-maduro.html (Links to an external site.) Any time you do an essay about a foreign country, a great place to start is the CIA World Factbook: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ve.html (Links to an external site.) Growing unrest: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-looting/lootings-scattered-protests-hit-venezuelan-industrial-city-idUSKBN1EY2DV (Links to an external site.) CNN Money has Venezuela headed toward collapse: http://money.cnn.com/2018/01/09/news/economy/venezuela-oil-production/index.html (Links to an external site.) Venezuela’s “food import program for the needy” may be largely fraudulant: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-corruption-food/u-s-colombian-probe-targets-venezuela-food-import-program-idUSKBN1HQ3AA (Links to an external site.) Venezuela wants to promote tourism (!): https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/venezuelas-economy-is-collapsing-and-violence-is-rampant-its-solution-woo-tourists/2018/01/12/56363398-f492-11e7-9af7-a50bc3300042_story.html?utm_term=.cef4f9ff75e4 (Links to an external site.) . The U.S. State Department explains why travel to Venezuela is not recommended: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/venezuela-travel-advisory.html
