Topic: Foreign Policy
Consequences of not paying attention to Venezuela
Is the current U.S. foreign policy of ignoring Venezuela working for us or against us?
by Jonathan Cymberknopf
(libertarian)
Friday, September 12, 2008
I will not understand why the United States simply ignores its own Hemisphere. We are too preoccupied dealing with the Middle East instead of paying attention to our own geographical part of the world, especially given the problems that comes with illegal immigration. This is perhaps, in my opinion, the biggest failure of the Bush Administration, as he has done his best to simply ignore Latin America.
Venezuela announced yesterday, they will be expelling the U.S. ambassador to Venezuela and gave him 72 hours before he is literally kicked out. As always, Hugo Chavez very diplomatically said "Go to hell, you stinking Yankees!" In front of a partisan crowd, Chavez went on to yell repeatedly "Yankees are shit".
This came moments after the Bolivian President Evo Morales did the same accusing the U.S. ambassador to Bolivia of conspiracy and what not. The Argentinean government supported Bolivia of course; after all, Argentina owes Chavez quite a bit after Chavez bought most of their international debt. This is how lobbying on a grand scale is done. Of course this was a carefully orchestrated move by both Morales and Chavez and we can soon expect similar shenanigans from Ecuador and Nicaragua. Chavez went on to say "If we have to create one Vietnam, two Vietnams, three Vietnams, here we are ready."
Venezuela has also announced and ordered a reduction in U.S. flights to Venezuela. Earlier in the week, Venezuela welcomed two Russian long-range bombers as Venezuela and Russia are holding joint military exercises in the Caribbean. This is the first time Russia deploys in the Caribbean for military exercises since the cold war. Chavez is not done yet as he has announced more Russian exercises to be held in November. "It's a warning. Russia is with us. We are strategic allies. It is a message to the empire. Venezuela is no longer poor and alone," Mr. Chavez said.
Since Chavez came to power in Venezuela in 1999, he has made it his goal of uniting Latin America against the US. He has done this quite successfully with oil money buying conscious around the world. With Chile and Brazil already having Socialist Presidents, Chavez has managed to build his own empire by helping Rafael Correa assume power in Ecuador, Evo Morales assume power in Bolivia and Daniel Ortega assume power in Nicaragua. It is no surprise that Chavez earlier this month, in front of his biological father, Chavez told the crowd his real father is Fidel Castro; and a great pupil he has been.
Hugo Chavez has also done his best to destabilize Colombia, a close US ally, by supporting the Terrorist group, FARC. And, of course, Chavez has been forming international alliances with any country that is perceived as being an enemy of the U.S., especially Iran.
It seems to me Bush would have been better off deposing of Hugo Chavez rather than Saddam Hussein; it would have been better for America, a lot easier and more popular. It is too late for that now as America has allowed Chavez and his rhetoric to blossom across the continent. To make matters worse, Obama and McCain have both been silent on Latin America during this long Presidential race, as not a word has been uttered regarding Latin America. I guess our Latin American foreign policy is if we ignore the problem it will go away. Good Luck with that.
©2008 Jonathan Cymberknopf, all rights reserved. You must have written permission from the author in order to republish this work.
Published: Friday, September 12, 2008
Last modified: Saturday, September 13, 2008
The views expressed in this article are those of Jonathan Cymberknopf only and do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Jonathan Cymberknopf is solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
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Reader Comments:
Posted By: Pedro Perez
Date: 2008-09-12 10:07:08
While Chavez does have a very large arsenal of rhetoric, I must admit that there is a pretty large chance that we, the US, could be involve in the displacement of controversial regimes. I think your article would be more valuable if you used history as context to preset the stage for your other statements. We were involved in the Bay of Pig (Cuba), we helped the Contras (Nicaragua), Allende (Chile), we brought down Saddam (Irak). Recently, our DoD published a document where covert operation within Iran were going to receive an increase in spending, just to push them forward at an accelerated pace. We _do_ get involve in regime change, and we have done so for a very long time. It, then, makes logical sense that Chavez tries so hard to neutralize it from within (by the use of rhetoric). It has worked for Fidel and Cuba.
As a mental exercise, put yourself in Chavez's shoes. If you knew all of the things mentioned above, wouldn't you be scared for your life and your government's too?
Posted By: Lana Dartayet
Date: 2008-09-12 14:04:26
The problem with the U.S. is that they expect everyone to think the same as they do. Each culture is different and that is why each must be dealt differently. The U.S. is the greatest country in the world however sometimes they are thought of as naive about the rest of the world. Why? Because that is the way they are perceived.
The best way to understand the way of thinking of the rest of the world is to get advisors from each country. You need to know how they think in order to understand them and therefore be able to solve the problems. However, if you expect others to think the same, act the same and react the same as an American then there is where the problem is!!!
Example:
To an american a hearty meal is: meat, potatoes and vegetables.
To a cuban a hearty meal is: meat, rice and black beans, and sweet plaintains.
To a dominican a hearty meal is: meat, rice and red beans, and boiled green plaintains.
To a french it is: steak and pommes frites (I hope you know what that is!!!)
To a Spaniard it is: Well here it depends from what region of Spain you come from. Let's say you come from Valencia then it is Paella Valenciana.
To a Swiss it is: Fondue (Cheese)
To a German it is: Wiener Schnitzel
So on and so forth. It is all food but it is all different. Most eat meat but how do they eat it? How do they cook it? How do they season it? So on and so forth... Once the Americans get that straight then they are on the road to everlasting success because there is no other country like the USA!!!!
Posted By: No Name Supplied
Date: 2009-02-07 20:11:54
Posted By: No Name Supplied
Date: 2009-02-07 20:20:29
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Posted By: No Name Supplied
Date: 2009-02-07 20:51:44
Document 1, "CIA and Guatemala Assassination Proposals, 1952-1954", CIA History Staff Analysis by Gerald K. Haines, June 1995.
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB4/index.html
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Posted By: No Name Supplied
Date: 2009-02-07 20:57:40
CIA Document , "Selection of individuals for disposal by Junta Group", March 31, 1954.
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB4/cia-guatemala3_1.html
