The Right Way to Do Regime Change in Venezuela

Looking back at South Africa, it is easy to forget that the only UN sanction imposed on the apartheid regime was an arms embargo. Most of the sanctions against Pretoria were not comprehensive; they were as diverse as the countries applying them. Even the U.S. was selective in the sanctions it imposed. It maintained diplomatic contact with the government of South Africa and allowed some economic links to continue. U.S. aid was not terminated, but instead, significant funds were channeled to civil society groups; it was one of the first U.S. assistance programs that openly embraced political objectives and did not go through the government.  Venezuelans caught in the crisis, and the rest of the world watching it unfold, are impatient for a sensible U.S. policy toward its hemispheric neighbor. More…