Maduro shows up Biden

Maduro is ably showing up Washington. [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Welcome to Balance of Power, bringing you the latest in global politics. If you haven’t yet, sign up [here](. The newsletter is going on Easter break and will be back on Tuesday. For all the US focus on Russian aggression and the rivalry with China, there’s a persistent annoyance closer to home that’s proving an equally stubborn challenge for President Joe Biden. What to do about Venezuela? The South American nation’s authoritarian leader, Nicolas Maduro, [is running rings around the US]( ahead of presidential elections that are looking more rigged by the day. The Biden administration relaxed sanctions on Caracas last year in return for Maduro’s commitment to a free and fair vote this July. Washington’s reasons were twofold: Venezuela has been subject to US penalties for almost a decade, contributing to an economic collapse that led millions of people to flee, many of them heading north to America. Stemming migration is among the most pressing of issues for American voters going into their own presidential election in November. Secondly, allowing Venezuela to pump and sell more of its vast oil reserves helps keep a lid on the price of gasoline for US drivers. As Andreina Itriago Acosta writes, Maduro’s response has been brazen, barring the opposition’s primary winner, María Corina Machado, and her little-known substitute, Corina Yoris, from running. And those are just the most recent violations of the deal that Maduro struck with the White House a mere five months ago. The US State Department issued its latest condemnation overnight, saying that it remains deeply concerned by the move to prevent candidates from registering, and warning that breaching the deal will have “consequences.” But Washington’s hands are tied, with the reintroduction of meaningful sanctions unlikely — all the more so in an election year with polls showing the race between Biden and Donald Trump so tight. Maduro knows he has most of the cards, and so does his increasingly dispirited opposition. For now, there seems little that Washington can do about it.— [Alan Crawford]( Maduro campaigning in Caracas. Photographer: Gaby Oraa/Bloomberg Global Must Reads Russian warships have entered the Red Sea, venturing into a crowded maritime region plagued by Houthi attacks on shipping. [The detachment included]( the missile cruiser Varyag and frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov, Tass reported. While the Yemen-based militants have pledged not to target Russian and Chinese vessels, missiles exploded near a ship hauling Russian oil in late January. Yemen’s Houthi fighters taking over a cargo ship in the Red Sea last November. Photo: Getty Images The Chinese Communist Party’s third-ranking official said “hegemonic and bullying acts are deeply harmful,” taking a veiled swipe at Washington in the keynote speech to the annual Boao Forum today attended by Asian leaders and global diplomats. While Zhao Leji didn’t name a country, his remarks underscore Beijing’s efforts to [promote a Chinese alternative]( to the US-led world order. More Conservative Members of Parliament have said they don’t plan to defend their seats in the next UK election than before any national vote since the party’s landslide defeat in 1997. As Isabella Ward writes, the high turnover suggests pessimism among Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Tories [about their chances of winning]( as they trail Keir Starmer’s opposition Labour Party by a double-digit margin in national polling. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan aims to avenge a defeat five years ago when his party lost power in Turkey’s biggest city, Istanbul. In municipal elections on Sunday, victory for his handpicked candidate, Murat Kurum, over incumbent Ekrem Imamoglu would allow the president and his party [to regain control of the financial resources]( that are key to sustaining their network of support. South Africa is home to many of the world’s worst emission sites for pollutants that cause ailments ranging from respiratory disease to heart attacks, strokes and stillbirths, [according to a new study]( by Greenpeace. Coal-fired power plants operated by state utility Eskom account for five of the biggest single-source nitrogen dioxide emission sites and two of the most harmful for sulfur dioxide, it showed. Biden will raise $25 million in a one-day New York fundraising bonanza, as he [looks to expand his large cash]( lead over Trump. Believe more in France was the message President Emmanuel Macron delivered to Brazilian business leaders as he and his counterpart, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, [sought to revive relations]( between their countries. Colombia’s government expelled Argentine embassy officials after President Javier Milei labeled his counterpart, Gustavo Petro, [a terrorist, assassin and communist]( in a TV interview. Washington Dispatch The [death yesterday of Joe Lieberman]( highlights just how rare the sort of politician he embodied has become: a committed centrist unafraid to disagree with his party. Within the last year, Mitt Romney and Joe Manchin, senators who embraced a middle ground on their sides of the aisle, announced their retirement. Lieberman, who represented Connecticut in the US Senate for nearly a quarter century, broke with fellow Democrats over a sex scandal that led to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. On the Senate floor, he denounced Clinton’s behavior as “disgraceful” and “immoral.” That didn’t stop his rise in the party: He became Al Gore’s running mate in the 2000 presidential election. In the years afterward, he continued blazing his own path. In the 2008 election he endorsed John McCain, a Republican, over Barack Obama. By then, he had become an independent but continued to vote with Democrats most of the time. His retirement from the Senate didn’t end his involvement in politics. He became a leader of the No Labels movement and in the weeks before his death was trying to recruit a presidential candidate to lead a 2024 third-party campaign. One of the many tributes to him came from a former Senate colleague. “Joe Lieberman and I didn’t always see eye-to-eye, but he had an extraordinary career in public service,” Biden said in a statement. One thing to watch today: The third estimate of gross domestic product for the fourth quarter is forecast to be unchanged at 3.2% when it’s released at 8:30 a.m. [Sign up for the Washington Edition newsletter]( for more from the US capital and watch Balance of Power at 1 and 5 p.m. ET weekdays on Bloomberg Television. Chart of the Day Canada spends hundreds of billions of dollars a year on social programs to reduce poverty and equalize access to health care, education, food and shelter. [But key parts of its safety net]( are fraying. Canada ranked 39th out of 170 countries in meeting the basic needs of citizens last year, tumbling from 13th a decade before, according to data tracked by Social Progress Imperative. And its population is growing faster than any other Group of Seven nation, China or India, thanks to welcoming immigration policies meant to be a solution to falling birth rates. And Finally Dubai’s allure for Russians looking to park money or build new lives after President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is dimming as the [cost of living in the glitzy emirate]( surges and its banks get stricter in enforcing US sanctions. While a widespread exodus of cash already in the United Arab Emirates isn’t expected, executives say it seems to have absorbed most of the benefits of Russian money and is unlikely to see more large inflows. Luxury villas on the waterfront in Dubai. Photographer: Christopher Pike/Bloomberg Pop quiz (no cheating!) In which country do some internationally renowned golf courses face an uncertain future due to coastal erosion, possibly triggered by climate change? Send your answers to balancepower@bloomberg.net. More from Bloomberg - [Economics Daily]( for what the changing landscape means for policy makers, investors and you - [Green Daily]( for the latest in climate news, zero-emission tech and green finance - Check out our [Bloomberg Investigates]( film series about untold stories and unraveled mysteries - [Bloomberg OpinionÂ](for a roundup of our most vital opinions on business, politics, economics, tech and more - Explore more newsletters at [Bloomberg.com]( Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Balance of Power newsletter. 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