Just a few proposals I came up with given the current situation in Venezuela. Feel free to comment on, support, disagree with any of them. Just point out why you do so.
Also, I know it most likely is controversial to sell arms to and pursue better open relations with Chavez, but at this stage in the game, I think containing Russian expansion in South America is more important than the short term damage Chavez could do.
Find much more information and the sources I borrowed for the background in the CRS Report.
The proposals came independent of that report however.
Background:
The United States has traditionally maintained good relations with Venezuela, however the regime of Hugo Chavez is threatening this relationship. Venezuela is the fourth largest supplier of oil to the United States, behind Canada, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia. This oil relationship has played a very large role in the United States position towards Venezuela because the United States remains the largest consumer of oil in the world.
As stated above, the election of Hugo Chavez in 1998, as President of Venezuela, has put a negative connotation on relations with the United States. Concern has been growing over Venezuela’s arms purchases, relations with Iran, Cuba, and recently Russia, the attempts to spread populism to neighboring nations, as well as a concern over human rights.
Venezuela maintains that they are purchasing arms for defensive purposes against United States aggression in the region. This includes contracts to buy 24 Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets, 50 military helicopters, 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles, a license to build a factory to produce Kalashnikov rifles in Venezuela, and several submarines. Part of the explanation for this is that the United States refuses to sell arms to them any longer.
Particularly worrisome is the relationship that Venezuela has with Iran and Russia. While their relationship with Cuba can be problematic, it does not compare with the other two. The close partnership between Iran and Venezuela is troublesome to the United States because we do not want Iranian influence in our backyard. Also, given that Venezuela is such a large supplier of oil, while Iran does not supply any oil to the United States, there is speculation that should the United States attack Iran, Venezuela will cut off the oil supply to America.
In recent days the relationship with Russia has come into the spotlight as well. Not only does Russia supply Venezuela with large amounts of weapons as noted above, but they also sent two long-range bombers to the country to conduct training missions in September 2008. In addition to this, a joint Russian-Venezuelan military exercise is scheduled to take place in the near future, presumably in response to the show of force in Georgia by the United States.
On top of these problems, Venezuela has actively been trying to unite other South American nations against the United States. Chavez has tried to exert influence in Bolivia, Peru, Nicaragua, and Ecuador, however his attempts have not always been successful. One of his major accomplishments however was the creation of the Bank of the South, which is intended to give an alternative to the largely US funded IMF and World Bank. Given that the United States focus has not centered on South America is recent years, Chavez has been able to capture a growing anti-US sentiment in the region that the United States should be aware of.
Proposals:
The first thing that the United States needs to do is ensure that all the focus is not put on the Middle East while Venezuela puts together a group of anti-US countries right in our own backyard.
Aside from that, there are many other solutions that we can enact. First, the United States should replace Russia as the arms supplier to Venezuela. If there is any merit to the claim that Russian equipment is being purchased because the United States will not sell any, then we must address that immediately. To prevent continued Russian influence in the region, we need to continue to sell arms to Venezuela. This will not endanger our relationship, but rather it will allow us to understand exactly what the Venezuelan military capabilities are. On top of this, it will allow US companies to make money from these sales.
Next, the United States should actively work through pro-US nations, and through our own programs, to foster American ideals in Venezuela. They can do this through radio, newspapers campaigns, and word of mouth. Also the United States should actively encourage the opposition parties in Venezuela to unite behind a single candidate in the upcoming elections in November. Chavez has suffered some defeat with his popularity lately and this could be a valuable tool. His referendum in 2007 was defeated, and his popularity is being diminished due to domestic problems like housing, food shortages, and widespread poverty. If the United States can touch on this sentiment, Chavez could easily be voted out of office by a united opposition.
Given this background, the United States can feel relatively secure in the fact that Chavez will not cut off the oil supply to the United States should we follow these policies. He has made the threat before, but it has never actually materialized. Given the poor domestic economic situation for many people in Venezuela, it is questionable whether the economy in Venezuela, or Chavez himself, could handle a closure of the oil flow. Given this information, oil could be used as a tool against Venezuela to put pressure on the country for closer ties.
Recent Russian expansion into Georgia and now South America must also be addressed now. While Russian expansion into Europe might be unpreventable if NATO is not willing to make changes, the United States can actively work to keep Russian expansion out of Venezuela and South America on its own. The United States should work to pursue better relations with Chavez, or with his opposition, so that Venezuela will remain more tied with the US than with Russia. This can be done by opening weapon sales, as mentioned earlier, or also through some form of a security guarantee, much like we offered to Cuba in the Cold War. This would have to be coupled with much more intense diplomatic efforts to other South American nations to ensure that we do not send the message of appeasement.
The United States should make more development money available to South American nations to counteract the role that the Bank of the South is playing is curtailing American influence.
Also, I know it most likely is controversial to sell arms to and pursue better open relations with Chavez, but at this stage in the game, I think containing Russian expansion in South America is more important than the short term damage Chavez could do.
Find much more information and the sources I borrowed for the background in the CRS Report.
The proposals came independent of that report however.
Background:
The United States has traditionally maintained good relations with Venezuela, however the regime of Hugo Chavez is threatening this relationship. Venezuela is the fourth largest supplier of oil to the United States, behind Canada, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia. This oil relationship has played a very large role in the United States position towards Venezuela because the United States remains the largest consumer of oil in the world.
As stated above, the election of Hugo Chavez in 1998, as President of Venezuela, has put a negative connotation on relations with the United States. Concern has been growing over Venezuela’s arms purchases, relations with Iran, Cuba, and recently Russia, the attempts to spread populism to neighboring nations, as well as a concern over human rights.
Venezuela maintains that they are purchasing arms for defensive purposes against United States aggression in the region. This includes contracts to buy 24 Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets, 50 military helicopters, 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles, a license to build a factory to produce Kalashnikov rifles in Venezuela, and several submarines. Part of the explanation for this is that the United States refuses to sell arms to them any longer.
Particularly worrisome is the relationship that Venezuela has with Iran and Russia. While their relationship with Cuba can be problematic, it does not compare with the other two. The close partnership between Iran and Venezuela is troublesome to the United States because we do not want Iranian influence in our backyard. Also, given that Venezuela is such a large supplier of oil, while Iran does not supply any oil to the United States, there is speculation that should the United States attack Iran, Venezuela will cut off the oil supply to America.
In recent days the relationship with Russia has come into the spotlight as well. Not only does Russia supply Venezuela with large amounts of weapons as noted above, but they also sent two long-range bombers to the country to conduct training missions in September 2008. In addition to this, a joint Russian-Venezuelan military exercise is scheduled to take place in the near future, presumably in response to the show of force in Georgia by the United States.
On top of these problems, Venezuela has actively been trying to unite other South American nations against the United States. Chavez has tried to exert influence in Bolivia, Peru, Nicaragua, and Ecuador, however his attempts have not always been successful. One of his major accomplishments however was the creation of the Bank of the South, which is intended to give an alternative to the largely US funded IMF and World Bank. Given that the United States focus has not centered on South America is recent years, Chavez has been able to capture a growing anti-US sentiment in the region that the United States should be aware of.
Proposals:
The first thing that the United States needs to do is ensure that all the focus is not put on the Middle East while Venezuela puts together a group of anti-US countries right in our own backyard.
Aside from that, there are many other solutions that we can enact. First, the United States should replace Russia as the arms supplier to Venezuela. If there is any merit to the claim that Russian equipment is being purchased because the United States will not sell any, then we must address that immediately. To prevent continued Russian influence in the region, we need to continue to sell arms to Venezuela. This will not endanger our relationship, but rather it will allow us to understand exactly what the Venezuelan military capabilities are. On top of this, it will allow US companies to make money from these sales.
Next, the United States should actively work through pro-US nations, and through our own programs, to foster American ideals in Venezuela. They can do this through radio, newspapers campaigns, and word of mouth. Also the United States should actively encourage the opposition parties in Venezuela to unite behind a single candidate in the upcoming elections in November. Chavez has suffered some defeat with his popularity lately and this could be a valuable tool. His referendum in 2007 was defeated, and his popularity is being diminished due to domestic problems like housing, food shortages, and widespread poverty. If the United States can touch on this sentiment, Chavez could easily be voted out of office by a united opposition.
Given this background, the United States can feel relatively secure in the fact that Chavez will not cut off the oil supply to the United States should we follow these policies. He has made the threat before, but it has never actually materialized. Given the poor domestic economic situation for many people in Venezuela, it is questionable whether the economy in Venezuela, or Chavez himself, could handle a closure of the oil flow. Given this information, oil could be used as a tool against Venezuela to put pressure on the country for closer ties.
Recent Russian expansion into Georgia and now South America must also be addressed now. While Russian expansion into Europe might be unpreventable if NATO is not willing to make changes, the United States can actively work to keep Russian expansion out of Venezuela and South America on its own. The United States should work to pursue better relations with Chavez, or with his opposition, so that Venezuela will remain more tied with the US than with Russia. This can be done by opening weapon sales, as mentioned earlier, or also through some form of a security guarantee, much like we offered to Cuba in the Cold War. This would have to be coupled with much more intense diplomatic efforts to other South American nations to ensure that we do not send the message of appeasement.
The United States should make more development money available to South American nations to counteract the role that the Bank of the South is playing is curtailing American influence.
Chavez has spent millions and millions of dollars arming and encouraging the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) - a group that is considered a marxist terrorist organization not only by the US but even the EU, and is trying to overthrow the demcratically elected government.
