Who Is Daniel Erikson, Biden's Future Advisor for Latin America?

By Misión Verdad – Feb 14, 2024

This week, it was announced that Juan González, President Joe Biden’s main advisor for the Western Hemisphere, will leave his position in mid-March. The Colombian-born advisor served in the White House since January 2021 and has collaborated with Biden for more than a decade on issues related to Latin America.

González will be replaced by Daniel Erikson, who has also been an advisor to President Biden for some time on issues related to this region. Erikson is currently deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Western Hemisphere at the US Department of Defense, so his focus is oriented to the country’s defense and security policy for the entire American continent. The announcement was made on Tuesday, February 13.

Erikson previously handled Western Hemisphere policy during the Biden–Harris transition and served in the White House as a special advisor to Biden when he was vice president, a position in which Erikson covered foreign affairs and national security issues in the Americas.

He has also worked at the United States Department of State as senior advisor for both Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs on the Western Hemisphere.

SOUTHCOM Air Force Chief Visits Guyana In Violation of Argyle Agreement

In 2019, the year when tensions between Venezuela and the United States increased during the “interim government” of former deputy Juan Guaidó, Erikson offered an interview to Infobae in which he hinted at his opinion of Chavismo.

“The crisis in Venezuela did not begin on January 23 of this year, nor in May 2018, but probably more than 20 years ago, because that country has experienced more than 20 years of Chavismo,” Erikson said on that occasion, adding that the fight that “the interim president” was waging against the “illegitimate” power of Maduro was tough despite the “international support he was receiving.”

Erikson, during the interview, projected that Washington’s strategy regarding Venezuela could end in failure and warned that greater diplomatic movement was needed to achieve the objective of achieving a regime change.

More recently, on January 8 of this year, he visited Guyana in his capacity as senior United States Defense appointee in the context of tensions with Venezuela in the dispute over the Essequibo territory. He arrived in Georgetown, Guyana, as US deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Western Hemisphere to meet with representatives of Guyana’s government, as well as the armed forces and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). A statement from the US embassy in Guyana described the event as a reflection of the importance that the United States grants to the “bilateral defense and security partnership.”

El arquitecto de una negociación desastrosa en la que los americanos le dieron todo a Maduro, incluido su contratista favorito -Alex Saab-, a cambio de promesas de buena fe. El resultado: inhabilitaciones, detenciones arbitrarias y ni asomo de una elección presidencial… https://t.co/ioykg07ENw
— Roberto Deniz (@robertodeniz) February 13, 2024

Although it is not possible to speculate on what position will be taken regarding Venezuela with this new advisor, some opponents point out the change as positive because the outgoing advisor was very “complacent” with the Maduro government.

Now, regardless of the change, or not, of strategy that is imposed on the negotiations between Venezuela and the United States, during this last stretch of the current Biden administration in Venezuela, presidential elections will be held in 2024, despite the sabotage and conspiracy that is orchestrated from the outside with internal support from a Venezuelan opposition that looks increasingly undemocratic.

(Misión Verdad)

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/JRE/SL