'Stability' Over Liberty in Venezuela

In short, an undemocratic regime known for its hostility to the United States, its complicity in narcotrafficking, and its affinity for Iran and Hezbollah has its back against the wall. Enter the U.S. State Department, which has refused to apply sanctions against Venezuelan human rights violators, as advocated by a bipartisan group in the U.S. Congress led by Senator Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey) and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Florida). According to congressional staff members who have consulted the administration, U.S. diplomats fret that such sanctions would undermine the dialogue — as if freezing the assets or revoking the U.S. visas of human rights violators would do more damage than shooting students and torching their campus. But that is what passes for U.S. foreign policy these days.