Joe Biden Needs to Ensure Guyana Isn't Weakened by Venezuela: Thanks in large part to American weakness, wars are spreading across the world.

Europe and the Middle East are on fire, Asia is tense, and now, closer to home, another dictator threatens to up-end a great nation just a three-hour flight from Miami.

Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro has learned valuable lessons from his patron, Vladimir Putin, and has set his sights on neighboring Guyana’s Essequibo region, an area which conveniently possesses massive offshore oil reserves. Maduro’s corrupt regime went so far as to hold a nationwide “referendum” to create the illusion of popular support for its claims, followed by a proclamation that ordered all state-owned companies to “immediately” explore and exploit the oil, gas and mines in the region. The Biden Administration must not risk America’s national security in our own hemisphere to deteriorate by further appeasing Maduro’s regime. Instead, the United States must take every step to re-establish deterrence and keep Maduro from doing to Guyana what Vladimir Putin has done to Ukraine.

Opposing Venezuela’s designs on Guyana is both the right thing to do and in America’s vital national interest. Guyana is a trustworthy partner and a massive source of affordable energy for the American people. Our actions in response to Maduro’s aggression will have a direct impact on energy prices here at home and on the fundamental trajectory of........

© The National Interest