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Letters to the Editor: With Venezuela oil deal, we could be repeating the mistakes we made in Iran
Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, speaks with the country’s minister of petroleum and hydrocarbons, Paula Henao, during a Sept. 2 news conference in Caracas regarding the oil agreement reached with the U.S.
(Jesus Vargas / Getty Images)
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To the editor: The Trump administration should heed history as it oversees Venezuela after removing its leader (“As Trump locks in oil deal, Venezuelans ask: What happened to elections?,” Sept. 7). In 1953, the U.S. engineered something similar elsewhere, helping install a pliant dictator to restore Western access to vast oil supplies. In 1979, that country revolted, radicalized, and reclaimed its oil, and has been a steadfast adversary ever since. That country is Iran.
Keeping Venezuela off a similar path requires the U.S. to ensure legitimate elections are held there and to accept the results, even if President Delcy Rodriguez is ousted.
Scott Russell, Long Beach
