Hopes that an Obama presidency could thaw ties between the United States and Venezuela are quickly receding after President Hugo Chávez called the U.S. president an “ignoramus” this past weekend.
Chávez went on the offensive Sunday, during his weekly broadcast over remarks President Barack Obama made two months ago criticizing the Venezuelan leader for supporting Colombian guerillas and being an obstacle to regional progress.
The new Chávez offensive coincides with stepped up attacks against the country’s opposition and fresh overtures to Moscow, including the offer of Venezuelan airfields for Russian long-range bombers. It also dents rumors of an impending thaw in ties between the two countries after Chávez’s meeting last week with U.S. Congressman William Delahunt.
Chávez’s blunt talk may be intended to take away some of Obama’s thunder at next month’s Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, when the two leaders will be jockeying for position and press attention.
The Venezuelan head of state, who wants to be acknowledged as a regional leader, may also be smarting after Obama met Brazilian President Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva earlier this month, signaling that the new U.S. administration’s principal focus in Latin America is, for now, Brazil.
Chávez, who just won voter approval last month to abolish the country’s presidential term limits, may also be attempting a preemptive strike as differences with Washington are bound to increase in the coming weeks. (The de facto leader of the Venezuelan opposition, Manuel Rosales, is expected to be arrested for alleged corruption within days, which will inevitably raise political tensions in the country and raise charges of political repression.)
Chávez has also sought to limit the power of opposition governors, who won five states in last year’s election, taking control of the three largest, as well as Caracas and Maracaibo, the two biggest cities. Now, however, the country’s National Assembly, which is overwhelmingly controlled by the president’s followers, has talked about creating a post of vice president to oversee the country’s capital—which would in effect strip a major Chávez critic, Mayor Antonio Ledezma, of any real power.
To further bind the hands of the opposition, the assembly also rewrote the country´s Decentralization Law, stripping local states of their control over ports, airports, and highways, an important source of revenue. Chávez seems to be hoping that the cut off in revenue to opposition-led states will lead to a voter revolt and the possible recall of anti-Chávez governors.
Meanwhile, the president is stepping up efforts to dampen dissent as the economy falters in the face of falling revenue from oil sales. He earlier removed police, hospitals, and schools from control of regional authorities. Such steps, which have been widely criticized by the country’s opposition as well as international organizations, will likely be questioned by President Obama in future international forums.
Given the war of words that may ensue, Chávez may think it better to step away now from pursuing any thaw in ties, especially as the chances of success seem to be diminishing.
Many analysts had forecast that an Obama presidency would lead to improved ties between the two countries, which have been at odds since Chávez took office in 1999, and exacerbated by an abortive 2002 coup against the Venezuelan leader in which he says Washington had a hand.
Although trade and economic ties between the two countries remain strong (Venezuela is among the top five oil suppliers to the United States), political ties have nosedived. Since September of last year, neither country has an ambassador in the other’s capital.
Still, Chávez’s most recent insults are nothing new. “El Comandante,” as he is known, regularly called former U.S. President George W. Bush the “great Satan” and accused Washington of plotting his assassination without offering any proof.
President Obama, should resist the temptation to strike back. Instead, much as he recently reached out to Iran, Obama could quelch the flames of protest agains the United States and easily diminish Chávez’s standing in the region by ending the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba and pledging more cooperation and less intervention in Latin America.
Pro-U.S. leaders in Latin America desperately want to believe that Obama’s policies in the hemisphere will be different than that of his predecessor.
How he handles the challenge posed by a tough-talking Chávez will go a long way in demonstrating that Obama’s actions will speak louder than words.
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Peter Wilson has lived in Venezuela since 1992. He was formerly South American team leader and Caracas bureau chief for Bloomberg News and has written about Venezuela for BusinessWeek, Time, and The Economist.