US president warns he will reconsider relations with Riyadh when Senate resumes sittings
Ever since the conspiracy theory spread in 1980 that Ronald Reagan had agreed with Ayatollah Khomeini to delay the release of the hostages held in the US embassy in order to win the election against Jimmy Carter, the so-called “October Surprise” plans every two years on the American elections, which are always held in November. This time, the bomb matched up with Saudi Arabia, announcing that OPEC will cut its oil production by two million barrels, which could mean the death penalty a month before the parliamentary election for democratic aspirations to retain control of the cameras. doubtful in itself.
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden responded to pressure from his party to work hard against its increasingly difficult ally Riyadh. “When the Senate meets again, we will reconsider relations with Saudi Arabia,” he threatened in an interview with CNN. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose friendship with the Trump family is well known, had certainly calculated this retaliation. If the rise in the price of gasoline is combined with inflation and the weakness of the Democratic Party in this election, it is very likely that Biden will not get a chance to carry out his threat as Republicans take control of both chambers if they do the next. day to win the elections 8.
There are many who think Biden’s response is late. During the campaign, he promised to turn the Saudi kingdom “into a pariah” from the United States, but the energy crisis of the invasion of Ukraine and the influence of his National Security Council coordinator, Brett McGurk, caused him to break this promise and pay tribute to the murderer of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi with a humiliating visit last July, where he clashed with the heir to the Saudi crown. It was known from the start that this was not going well. The prince sent the provincial governor to receive him, rather than a senior government official, and very shortly after the meeting took it upon himself to leak that Biden had not asked him for an explanation for Khashoggi’s murder. The decision to cut oil production a month before the election would be the culmination of his revenge for heavily criticizing him during the campaign and for halting military aid intended to fuel his offensive against Yemen.
Mohamed bin Salmán’s calculation has a risk. If the predictions don’t come true and Democrats retain control of the Senate, Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Bob Menendez has vowed to come at them with everything he has. From strict laws to hold Saudi oil companies responsible for every leak, to the abrupt end of every military contract, that’s what fueled relations between the two countries since 1940. Yesterday, Menéndez raised the bar and asked on MSNBC what would happen to the lawsuits filed by the families of 9/11 victims, who blame Riyadh for the attacks in which 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis.
“The United States must end all aspects of cooperation with Saudi Arabia,” Menéndez demanded. “If Saudi Arabia, one of the worst human rights abusers in the world, wants to associate with Russia to skyrocket the price of gasoline, let Putin defend him,” Senator Bernie Sanders said.
Washington also risks further exacerbating damaged relations, which are hurting not only its own economy but also that of the global energy crisis. Perhaps that is why the State Department has been so quick to say that it has no intention of suspending arms sales to that country, which has infuriated the Democratic lawmakers who are playing for their seats in these elections. Biden’s alternative to offset OPEC’s crude, which already diverts 80% of its production to Asia, is to look to Venezuela, which could be the major beneficiary of this rift if it plays its cards right. This will require Nicolás Maduro to make concessions on political and human rights issues to appease the resentment of Cuban-American senators like Menéndez.
Source: La Verdad
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