The Interdependence Behind

Bilateral Political Tensions:

Economic Realities Affecting

Venezuela – U.S. Relations

In January 2006, the sixth gathering of the World Social Forum, during which Hugo Chávez as well as other left-leaning and socialist leaders fiercely criticized imperialist practices, was held in the Caracas Hilton Hotel. As James Surowiecki noted in an article for The New Yorker six months before the conference opened, a meeting sponsored by the Venezuelan Ministry of Finance took place at the same hotel. The aim of the aforementioned meeting was meant to promote American investments in Venezuela. How can one explain such a paradox? Are Venezuela and the United States only rhetorical political foes? Or, is there an underlying economic relationship between these two countries that renders them important trading partners?

Opposite Ideologies and the Escalation of Political Hostilities
Since Chávez took office in 1999, Venezuela has rapidly moved from being a stable and compliant partner of the U.S. to a fire-breathing anti-imperialist power. The Venezuelan leader came to power with the will to awaken his Bolivarian dream. At the same time the U.S. was entering into an archly neoconservative spell. Specifically, while the U.S. interventionist and market-based ideology was being fortified by George W. Bush’s election, Chávez was praising political sovereignty, economic self-sufficiency and the union of Latin American countries against imperialism. These fiercely contested ideological contentions subsequently led to an escalation of tensions between the two countries through a succession of well-known explosive events. Such events included Chávez’s visit to Saddam Hussein in 2000, the U.S. recognition of the Pedro Carmona government after his coup in April 2002 in which Chávez was detained against his will, and the eviction of a U.S. military attaché from the U.S. Embassy in Caracas in 2006 after he was declared persona non grata. These represent only a few of the many political clashes that darkened the lens between the two countries. The situation was embittered by a number of provocative declarations from both sides, the most famous one being Chávez’s “devil speech” at the 61st United Nations General Assembly. Tensions finally reached a peak when Venezuela completely broke off its diplomatic ties with the U.S. in September 2008, only later to reestablish relations in June 2009, primarily due to Barack Obama’s election, an event that disappointingly only briefly ameliorated U.S.-Venezuelan relations.

For full article click here

This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Felix Blossier