This week, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on the United States’ policy in Venezuela. They discussed the heavy sanctions levied against Nicolás Maduro’s illegitimate socialist regime.

Once the richest country in South America, a thriving democracy with the world’s largest crude oil reserves, Venezuela’s people are now literally starving to death. If America were to re-apply the policies of the Obama-Biden administration today, Maduro’s disastrous regime, propped up by Cuba, Russia, and Iran, would continue indefinitely.

In 1982, Biden voted in opposition to the reaffirmation of the Monroe Doctrine. So unpopular was this stance, that he was joined by only 27 other lawmakers, and it’s easy to understand why. It broadcasts American vulnerability, not strength.

The Monroe Doctrine warns against foreign interference in the Western Hemisphere. President John F. Kennedy invoked the Monroe Doctrine during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. At that time, the Soviet Union had installed ballistic missile facilities on the tiny island nation less than 100 miles from Florida. JFK’s Monroe Doctrine-based response prevented escalation into full-scale nuclear war.

Fast-forward to 2013. “The era of the Monroe Doctrine is over,” said John Kerry, then serving as the Obama-Biden administration’s Secretary of State. Undoubtedly, Joe Biden concurs.

Meanwhile, in 2020, Russia and China fiercely protect their respective spheres of influence. The prospect of a Biden presidency in which America returns to renouncing the Monroe Doctrine must fill our adversaries with delight.