The White House has announced the addition of Chad and Venezuela to the list of nations from which travel to the United States is now banned.
The inclusion of these two nations has shocked some observers, but I'm more understanding.
In Chad's case, I think the concern is not so much Chad per se, but its northern neighbor and fellow ban member, Libya. After all, Chad is a close U.S. counter-terrorism ally, but Libya is a key staging post for Islamic State external attack plots against the west. I suspect the key U.S. concern centers on Chad's poorly guarded 650 mile border with Libya.Deeply vulnerable to infiltration by ISIS officers and other terrorists from al Qaeda syndicates, the border is a compelling reason for U.S. attention. It's also worth noting that ISIS is highly innovative in its efforts to infiltrate the west. Considering that passport fraud is rife in central Africa, and that ISIS revels in using fake passports, I can see good reasons for the Trump administration's decision here. My father, a former State Department diplomat who served in Chad in the 1980s put it to me this way, "Away from the capital, N'Djamena, the gun is the law."
On Venezuela, the motivation would seem to be humanitarian concerns rather than protecting U.S. Citizens. President Trump has shown real anger over the Maduro regime's treatment of its citizens, and it is notable that Trump's proclamation applies only to government officers and their family members.
Indeed, the ban focuses on specific agencies involved in repressing Venezuelan protesters, including, "the Ministry of the Popular Power for Interior, Justice and Peace; the Administrative Service of Identification, Migration and Immigration; the Scientific, Penal and Criminal Investigation Service Corps; the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service; and the Ministry of the Popular Power for Foreign Relations."
The Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN) is an especially unpleasant organization responsible for many people's torture and imprisonment without trial. Regardless, this ban will also limit the ability of corrupt Venezuelan officials to send their children off to live in relative luxury in the U.S. while they starve their nation to death at home. The Trump administration deserves credit for its moral leadership on this issue.
Ultimately, Chad and Venezuela might not have a lot in common, but there are good reasons for adding these nations to the list.
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