U.S.-Venezuela Links Teeter on the Brink, Dragging a Prudent Foreign Policy With It

•Washington should take advantage of the temporary détente between Colombia and Venezuela and relate to Caracas constructively.
•Would-be U.S. Ambassador designate Palmer fails at behaving diplomatically.
•You do not insult your perspective host and then expect to be warmly greeted in the house.
•While Chavez sometimes acts boorishly, he has the right to challenge U.S. charges against him when they are often driven by propaganda rather than by hard facts.
•U.S. Latin American Policy under Obama continues to be vintage Bush.
Since Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez came to power in 1999, Caracas has maintained a testy relationship with the United States, a nation which Chávez views as the primary threat to his dream of reproducing the Bolivarian Revolution. Although the U.S. and Venezuela experienced a very brief honeymoon once President Barack Obama assumed office, the two countries’ relationship has quickly begun to sour. Responding in kind, Chávez has vamped up his anti-imperialist rhetoric in recent months, repeatedly taking stabs at the U.S. government for meddling in Latin American affairs.

In addition to chiding the Obama administration for its claims that the Venezuelan government may be supporting terrorist organizations and for the U.S. increased military presence in Latin America, Chávez has slammed Obama’s nominee for Ambassador to Venezuela. Larry Palmer, an experienced if somewhat back-slapping, Foreign Service officer who served as Ambassador to Honduras from 2002-2005, drew heavy criticism from Chávez and other Venezuelan officials because of a series of scathing remarks he had made regarding the Caracas regime during a fast-pace hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on July 27. In a question and answer session with Senator Dick Lugar (R-IN), Palmer questioned the morale of Venezuela’s military, warned of the nation’s increased cooperation with Cuba, and further hinted at the government’s compliance with leftist rebel groups like the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC) as well as its counterpart, the National Liberation Army (ELN).

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