On Tuesday, cancer claimed the life of Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez, silencing one of Latin America’s most controversial leaders in the 21st century. Chavez’s death opens the way to an uncertain succession process, continued polarization, and potential instability in oil-rich Venezuela. Dealing with a post-Chavez Venezuela will require an ongoing U.S. commitment to…
The historically pro-American multilateral organization known as the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has been struggling for decades to form a regional “Single Market and Economy” (CSME) to integrate the disparate islands and sub-continental economies of the Caribbean Basin into a common market based on sound democratic institutions and pro-market policies. The obstacles to…
While the murder of American diplomats and violent anti-American riots across the Islamic world dominate the news cycle, it is easy to overlook the slow burn of anti-Americanism closer to home. In the Western Hemisphere, Hugo Chávez’s Venezuela, the Castro brothers’ Cuba, and the other members of the Bolivarian ALBA movement continue to advance a hostile, if less violent,…
Abstract: On October 7, 2012, Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez will stand for re-election against opposition candidate Henrique Capriles. The Venezuelan presidential election matters to the U.S.: Venezuela is a major oil supplier to the U.S.; Chávez’s anti-American worldview has led to alliances with Iran, Syria, and Cuba; and Chávez offers safe havens to FARC and Hezbollah.…
FYI: Heritage WebMemos are now called Issue Briefs. On February 12, nearly 3 million Venezuelans voted in the nation’s first genuine presidential primary. Voters selected a single candidate—Henrique Capriles Radonski—to face Venezuela’s authoritarian populist leader Hugo Chavez in a presidential contest on October 7. Chavez, the bellicose anti-American…
On June 10, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez arrived in Havana for high-level meetings. Two days later, the press reported he underwent surgery to repair a pelvic abscess. Speculation regarding his health increased with each passing day. Possible diagnoses included acute peritonitis, prostate cancer, or liposuction gone wrong. Two weeks later, Foreign Minister…
President Obama undertakes his March 19–23 trip to Latin America at a time when the international scene is in enormous flux. In three stops—Brazil, Chile, and El Salvador—the President will send an upbeat message of equal partnership and offer broader U.S. engagement in Latin America. President Obama will meet with three leaders whose views count when it comes to…
Last week in New York, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the press that if the United States attacked Iran over its nuclear program it would face war like it had never seen. Bluster? Maybe, but it ain’t an empty boast if you can do it. And Iran may have already been making preparations to strike America should we come to blows over nukes - or anything…
On September 26, Venezuelan voters selected 165 members for its single-chamber National Assembly. Approximately 66.45 percent of an estimated 17 million eligible voters cast ballots. As with every election since 1998 in Venezuela, these elections became a referendum about the rule of authoritarian populist President Hugo Chávez. Despite alarmist predictions of violence by…
Seven months after the tragic Jan. 12 earthquake, Haiti is at last on the path to reconstruction. Thanks to a substantial flood of assistance, with billions of dollars more promised, the minimal needs of the Haitian people are finally being met. Yet the pace of recovery is painfully slow. The United States and the world have their sights set upon on a Haiti-owned…
Next week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will travel to Lima, Peru, to attend the Organization of American States (OAS) general assembly. She is also planning a brief visit to Ecuador, Colombia, and Barbados in what will be her second swing through the region in 2010. Clinton cannot afford to squander this opportunity to focus attention on Venezuela’s increasingly…
When someone sticks his face in yours and shouts you're his biggest enemy, it's a good idea to take them at their word. Enter, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Recently, while hosting Syria's Bashar al-Assad, Chavez publicly committed to "saving the world from the imperialism and capitalist hegemony that threaten the human species." Topping the Chavez-Assad…
The August 10 summit between newly inaugurated Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez is a potentially positive step in the Americas. The summit lowered tensions that were recently heightened when officials of the outgoing Uribe government presented evidence showing that an estimated 1,5000 fighters of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia…
On April 25, Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro announced the arrest of American Timothy Hallet Tracy. “The gringo...…
There is good reason to believe that Nicolas Maduro is not the legitimate president of Venezuela. Nonetheless Maduro...…
President Obama’s decision not to send any significant member of his Administration to attend the funeral of former...…
On April 14, some 14.8 million Venezuelans went to the polls to select a new president to replace Hugo Chavez, who...…
Voters go to the polls on Sunday, April 14, to elect Venezuela’s next president. Snap elections followed the March 5...…
What are we to make of Jay-Z and Beyonce’s trip to Cuba? And can we really expect a better U.S.–Venezuela relationship...…
The situation encountered by Heritage analysts on the ground in Venezuela last week was of a country that has been...…
A group of populist Latin American states—led by Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela—hopes to reduce the role of an...…
Two weeks after the death of President Hugo Chavez from cancer, Venezuela’s interim chief and Chavista presidential...…
Yesterday, in Rome, the world watched as white smoke rose from the Sistine Chapel and the new pope was named. Many...…