The United States needs to be more active on the diplomatic front in the face of increasing arms purchases and oil asset nationalization by Venezuela.
In the last two years, Venezuela has spent $4.3 billion to buy fighter jets, attack helicopters, assault rifles and other weapons, mainly from Russia, according to a Pentagon intelligence report. That’s far more than other international arms purchasers like Pakistan and Iran and any other Latin American country.
No one is suggesting that the weapons buildup is a threat to U.S. security. Other countries in Latin America, however, are understandably getting nervous. Venezuela’s populist and increasingly autocratic President Hugo Chavez is no friend of the Bush administration, but the U.S. imports a huge chunk of its oil from Venezuela – more than 1 million barrels a day. His announcement Monday that he was taking over oil projects run by six foreign companies, including three American ones, raised the anxiety level.
The moves come at a time when Chavez is getting cozy with Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, an anti-American Islamist with nuclear ambitions. Chavez is considering a venture with Iran to build remote-control patrol aircraft. He also has forged closer ties with Cuba.
Chavez, swept into power in 1998 in a democratic election, was re-elected in December by more than 60 percent of the vote. But he has come under international scrutiny for nationalizing Venezuela’s energy resources, telecommunications and other businesses.
The Bush administration has been cautious since the failed coup, and has wisely remained cool in the face of Chavez’s anti- American rhetoric. But the U.S. should not allow Chavez to impose his leftist views on the rest of Latin America.
We hope that’s why President Bush has decided to renew friendships with Venezuela’s neighbors next month in his most extensive trip to Latin America since taking office.
It would be unwise to let Chavez’s anti-American bent go unchecked.
