Human rights advocacy groups and even some of the president’s Democratic allies are warning Biden that a Saudi visit could be perilous.
WASHINGTON — As a candidate for president, Joe Biden was not shy about calling out dictators and authoritarian leaders as he anchored his foreign policy in the idea that the world is in a battle between democracy and autocracy.
Even as Biden was excluding a trio of leaders from the gathering, his national security team was making preparations for a possible visit to Saudi Arabia, an oil-rich kingdom that the president labeled a “pariah” state in the early days of his successful White House run. “President Biden committed to putting human rights and democracy at the heart of our foreign policy. It is,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters at a summit closing news conference Friday. “That doesn’t mean that it’s the totality.”
Six House Democrats, including the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, wrote to Biden this past week that if he decides to move forward with the visit, he must follow through on a pledge of “recalibrating that relationship to serve America’s national interests” and press Saudi officials on oil production, human rights and reported ballistic missile sales by China to the kingdom.
Argentina’s president, Alberto Fernández, and Belize’s prime minister, John Briceño, were among those to show up but publicly criticize Biden’s move.Before taking office, Biden did not hold back about what he saw as some of his fellow leaders’ shortcomings, particularly those who had less than stellar records as champions of democracy but were in the good graces of President Donald Trump.
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