The claim that Venezuela represents a threat to U.S. national security is as ludicrous as the Trump administration’s claim that imported cars from China, Canada and Mexico do the same. But the bogyman claim regarding Venezuela is not just an invention of Marco Rubio and others close to Trump. It goes back to the Obama executive order that stated that Venezuela represents an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security. It’s now become the new mantra that guides U.S. foreign policy. And it has extremely dangerous implications for Venezuela as it does for world trade and ipso facto the world economy. It’s one more example of how some of the policy decisions of the Obama administration set the stage. President Trump has just taken those policies to a new, absurd level.