An oil embargo is the wrong approach. Here’s what Trump should do in Venezuela

(Photo: Fernando Llano AP)

President Donald Trump has raised eyebrows with a threat to impose “strong and swift economic actions” against Venezuela, which a senior administration official said could include an oil embargo on that country. But there are other U.S. actions that would be much smarter.

Trump’s threat to impose unilateral U.S. actions came in a written statement on July 17, a day after more than 7 million Venezuelans voted in an opposition-organized referendum to oppose President Nicolás Maduro’s plan to rewrite the Constitution, and replace it with a Cuba-style charter.

A day after the vote, a senior Trump administration official told reporters that “all options are on the table,” including cuts in U.S. purchases of Venezuelan oil.

Venezuela, which is nearly bankrupt after 18 years of disastrous economic policies, depends on oil for 95 percent of its export income. And the bulk of that goes to the United States, which buys 700,000 oil barrels a day from the South America country.

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