Biden inherits Venezuelan conundrum

The incoming US government faces a multitude of foreign policy challenges, but will its arrival also mark reconciliation with Latin America’s largest petrostate?

Venezuela’s ruling elite will be relieved to see the back of President Donald Trump. After four years of Washington tightening the noose on the Bolivarian Republic—pushing the oil sector to the brink of ruin—the country’s president Nicolas Maduro has managed to outlast his US counterpart. But for Venezuela, the key question is what difference a Biden administration will make to the strained bilateral relationship—and, most importantly, the Latin American nation’s ailing economy. Will a new presidency restore better ties, or will a Democratic government continue along the path of severe sanctions laid out by the departing administration? Most importantly, Biden enters the fray with a swathe o