Maybe Obama’s Sanctions on Venezuela are Not Really About His “Deep Concern” Over Suppression of Political Rights

The White House on Monday announced the imposition of new sanctions on various Venezuelan officials, pronouncing itself “deeply concernedby the Venezuelan government’s efforts to escalate intimidation of its political opponents”:deeply concerned. President Obama also, reportedly with a straight face, officially declaredthat Venezuela poses “anextraordinary threat to the national security” of the U.S. —a declaration necessary to legally justify the sanctions.

Today, one of the Obama administra...