U.S.-Venezuela Rift Won't Stop With Obama

Washington Post: Sea Exercises With Russia This Week Is A Sign Hugo Chávez Will Continue Be A Challenge

(Washington Post)  This story was written by Juan Forero.

---

The arrival of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and a naval squadron in Venezuela this week is an unequivocal message to President-elect Barack Obama that his most nettlesome challenge in the Americas will be Venezuela's populist government and its oil-fueled crusade against U.S. influence, political analysts say.

President Hugo Chávez, who once called President Bush "the devil," has held out his hand to Obama and expressed a willingness to reengage Washington after expelling the U.S. ambassador in September. Chávez also describes his scheduled meeting with Medvedev on Wednesday and the joint naval maneuvers with the Russian flotilla as friendly exchanges that are not designed to provoke the United States.

But despite Chávez's conciliatory words, Obama faces the task of blunting the pretensions of a country intent on building alliances with American adversaries, including Iran and, critics say, Marxist guerrillas in neighboring Colombia. Obama also faces more immediate worries, including two wars, looming questions about Iran's nuclear ambitions and a resurgent Russia.

Venezuela poses no strategic risk. Chávez, though, has worked energetically this decade to fill the vacuum created by declining U.S. influence in Latin America, a product of Bush administration policies that were unpopular here. In the process, Chávez has become perhaps the world's most vocal anti-American leader and structured an alliance with figures unfriendly to Washington in countries as divergent as Nicaragua and Belarus.

"Obama's dealing with a country that in the past eight or nine years has been taking a very strongly anti-U.S. position that puts the United States in a central negative role," said Peter DeShazo, a former U.S. diplomat who oversees the Latin American program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "Chávez's whole revolution is based on supplanting the influence of the U.S. in the region."

Under a narrative that has become a cornerstone of foreign policy here, the United States is determined to kill Chávez, seize Venezuela's vast oil reserves and ensure that Venezuelans remain subservient to "the empire." Like his close ally in Cuba, Fidel Castro, Chávez represents those subjugated by the United States. His role is to form a union with like-minded nations to thwart a U.S.-dominated "uni-polar" world.

Venezuela has entered into economic agreements with President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, who has been called Europe's last dictator, and signed contracts worth $4.4 billion to buy assault rifles, military helicopters and combat aircraft from Russia. Venezuela has built a tight alliance with Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega, who is sharply at odds with the United States, and has subsidized oil sales to Cuba.

"It should not surprise anyone in the United States," Bernardo Álvarez, Venezuela's ambassador to Washington until September, said in a recent interview. "From the moment Chávez was elected, he planted the system of multi-polarity, and not uni-polarity."

In September, Chávez said that Venezuela had become a strategic ally of Russia and that the military exercises represented "a message to the empire: Venezuela is no longer poor and alone, exploited and humiliated."

As Russian sailors, decked out in black-and-white uniforms, arrived Tuesday at the port of La Guaira, the Venezuelans made a point of providing a memorable welcome to Russia in its first big military deployment to Latin America since the Cold War. A 21-gun salute greeted the sailors as they lined the bow of the destroyer Admiral Chabanenko. The pride of Russia's navy, the nuclear-powered cruiser Peter the Great, was anchored offshore.

Yet the Venezuelan government's rhetoric was far more subdued than it was in September when the deployment was announced and Chávez declared: "Go ahead and squeal, Yankees." Venezuela has faced hard economic and political realities since Chávez's meeting with Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Russia that month.

The worldwide economic crisis has left Venezuelan crude at $40 a barrel, diminishing Chávez's ability to project himself on the world stage. And Sunday, Venezuela's once-hapless opposition won some of the most important cities and states in nationwide elections, dampening Chávez's efforts to change the constitution to permit his indefinite reelection.

Michael Shifter, a senior policy analyst with Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, said it might also become harder for Chávez to cast the United States as the villain with a young, liberal black man in the White House. Still, Shifter said, the Obama administration will probably have many of the same interests the Bush administration has had in Latin America.

"Bush lent himself to that narrative," Shifter said. "He was the perfect foil. My guess is Chávez is going to try to put Obama in that spot, but it will take some work."

The assistant U.S. secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere, Thomas Shannon, said Chávez is probably trying to adjust to the new realities in Washington. Shannon noted that Chávez has made conciliatory comments.

"So rhetorically, he's actually created all kinds of options for himself," Shannon said. "And he's obviously exploring some options now with this new administration."

The Venezuelan government, through its embassy in Washington, called Obama's election "historic" and said it paralleled the arrival of several left-leaning leaders in South America this decade. "We are convinced the time has come to establish new relations between our countries and in our region, based on respect for sovereignty, equality and true cooperation," the embassy said.

The Venezuelans frequently bring up the question of sovereignty when they express fury at U.S. funding of various civil society groups in Caracas, many of which are opposed to Chávez. Details about that assistance, contained in documents made public in Washington in 2002 after a failed coup against Chávez, have been wielded here as proof the United States helped hatch the plot.

But the Venezuelans also complain that their sovereignty is being violated when U.S. officials raise concerns about issues important to the United States, such as the trafficking of cocaine across Venezuela or the threats made by Chávez against the media and opposition figures.

Political analysts and diplomats say the Obama administration is unlikely to remain quiet about these and other concerns, though the approach might be different from that taken by the Bush administration. If Hillary Rodham Clinton becomes secretary of state, the U.S. approach to Venezuela could be tough, especially on issues such as Iran and the fight against terrorism. Clinton, like Obama, is a strong supporter of Israel; her husband is a staunch supporter of Colombia's leadership in its war against drugs and rebels.

Shannon, the assistant secretary of state, said that for now he foresees the Obama administration following through on the Bush administration strategy of building ties with big, friendly countries in the region, such as Brazil and Mexico.

"It will be up to the new administration, I think, to define how it wants to engage with Mr. Chávez and the Venezuelan government," Shannon said. "So at this point in time, number one, I wouldn't hope for too much. But number two, we've got a lot going on in the region, and he's going to have to get in line."

[holden970]

obama has more balls than bush, not only that he can spell balls.

[moxford0]

Chavez was right when he called Bush the devil. Who is the one resposible for the deaths of 4000+ American soldiers in Iraq? It sure wasn''t Chavez. Who started a war costing the American taxpayer over 10 billion dollars a month? It wasn''t Chavez. Chavez is a far better man than George Satan Bush. Of course that''s not saying much at all.

[bjcone8559]

All countries see Obama as (week) HE MEANS ''WEAK'' and they knew Clinton was (week) AGAIN... ''WEAK''---Lets just hope (are) HE MEANT ''OUR''... security is as good as they have us believing,Im sure it will be tested in the near future.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by shimano35


Poor illiterate baztard! Typical republican.

[endofempire]

The solution for Chavez and all the wannabe dictators is about a buck twenty-five worth of lead and a bucket of cojones.

[endofempire]

Let''s see, Obama knows how to spell V E N E Z U E L A. He''s never been south of Mexico, so he has no idea of who he is dealing with. In the socialist la-la-land he lives in, everyone abroad wants to sing Kumbaya with us, just as long as we are nice to them... Of course, he was too busy writing his memoirs to have read any geopolitical historical evidence of how the rest of the world operates... A rude awakening awaits our glorious new president... A man who is famous for being famous...

[obama_dkhed]

If Venezuela is truly gonna be such a problem.....

This newbie President, long about Feb. 1st should send his boy Rombo on down there to kick this fat little beaners taco munching azz??

[obama_dkhed]

If Venezuela is truly gonna be such a problem.....

This newbie President, long about Feb. 1st should send his boy Rombo on down there to kick this fat little beaners taco munching azz??

[shimano35]

All countries see Obama as week and they knew Clinton was week---Lets just hope are security is as good as they have us believing,Im sure it will be tested in the near future.

[toolmangler-2009]

"His role is to form a union with like-minded nations to thwart a U.S.-dominated "uni-polar" world."



Absolutely, he wants a ''Chavez'' controlled world, that much has been obvious from the start.

[likenoone-2009]

Russian see obamanation as weak

[jowand]

Have you noticed MR Pinapple Head has new friend Medvedev of Russia, he looks a lot like Mr Bean from British TV.

[ffoulkes-2009]

(Strange isn''''t it...NONE of these Obslime-a idiots ever read about an issue...all they can do is blither about people being racists and call nasty names, like kids on a playground...is it immaturity, or just ignorance?)

Posted by Rowdydfw at 08:06 AM : Nov 28, 2008
_____________
My guess is a whole lot of both.

[ffoulkes-2009]

All Venezuela needs to do is continue to block Hugo Chavez from changing the Constitution so he can be President for life and this Venezuela/U.S. drama will expire on its own.

Posted by spinproof at 10:31 PM : Nov 26, 2008
_____________
One small point to make here...Chavez owns the military in Venezuela. If he wishes to remain dictator pro tem, he will.

[ffoulkes-2009]

Don''''t feel sorry for him - at least as president he''''s TRYING to do something good for his country.

That IS NOT something that Bush can say.

Posted by IwasHungry68 at 03:47 PM : Nov 26, 2008
____________
Wow...He is NOT trying to do good for his country...He is trying to do good for HIMSELF. He wants to be Dictator for life. He is doing all he can toward that end. I can''t believe you think this druggie jerk is better than the President of the United States whom DESERVES respect from every citizen whether you agree with his beliefs or not.

[ffoulkes-2009]

The question - much like yourself - is irrelevant. He was raised by his mother.

Would he be different if he was raised by YOUR parents? Yes - he would probably be an undignified, racist, idiot, living in a trailer park with you and your parents.

Fortunately for us, he wasn''''t raised by such poor parents as yours.

Posted by IwasHungry68 at 03:32 PM : Nov 26, 2008
_________
Isn''t it strange that those raised poorly and winding up in prison for felonies voted almost exclusively democratic tickets? Says something for who is being raised right around here.

[ffoulkes-2009]

I would characterize them as "people who told the truth." Since Bush never won a presidential election---he stole two of them---and the ''''libs'''' as you call them warned you idiot conservatives about what would happen if he got into the White House but you selected him anyway, that would make you uhhhhh...kinda stupid, wouldn''''t it?

Posted by tj217 at 02:52 PM : Nov 26, 2008
_______
Sore loser...Bush WON BOTH elections. After the recounts were done, he STILL won them both (recounts were done afterward just to verify by various news organizations).
Regardless, you sore LOSERS chose to hound the guy from the get-go. Now you are whining about some people disagreeing with your chosen one. Get over it you racist.

[ffoulkes-2009]

Watching your country being destroyed for the benefit of the ultra-wealthy, at the expense of the middle class, and voicing an opinion about it, is not being a "sore loser".

Though there is plenty to be "sore" about. If Gore and Kerry would have won, our stock market would probably be at 15,000, unemployment would be at record lows, inflation wouldn''''t be soaring, we wouldn''''t be mired in an unnecessary war for nothing....

Yes - there is plenty to be bitter about.

Posted by IwasHungry68 at 02:49 PM : Nov 26, 2008
__________
Bullshiit. You people started whining about Bush before he was even sworn in the first time and haven''t let up since.

[ffoulkes-2009]

The only fool we all see is you. Get over it, because whether you like it or not Obama is going to show the white boys how to run a country. Any time a black person gets involved in anything it''''s done better. (Golf, tennis for example) LOL!!!!!!

Posted by lalabradle at 11:51 AM : Nov 26, 2008
__________
Ok, Ok...You RACIST PIG. Oh, wait...I forgot...liberals can''t BE racists...only white conservatives...hrm...

[ffoulkes-2009]

your chosen one made bundles of money from fannie and freddie
**********
Source?
Posted by frankfurt200 at 11:11 AM : Nov 26, 2008
____________
While you are asking for sources...I would LOVE to see a source saying Bush profited from the war in Iraq. That has been the leftist chant since the war began.
-------------------

[jowand]

Trickle-down economy has been sucked up big time and appears to be doing a better job than a nuke...

Posted by IOWEIGN at 12:11 PM : Nov 27, 2008

Trickle down economy works fine, it''s the goverment trying to turn it into an upflush toilet that''s caused this mess.