Issue Brief posted March 6, 2013 by Ray Walser, Ph.D., Jessica Zuckerman
Venezuela After Chavez: U.S. Should Rally to Democracy
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…
Issue Brief posted October 19, 2012 by Ryan Olson, James M. Roberts
CARICOM: U.S. Should Push Back Against Chavez in the Caribbean
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…
Issue Brief posted September 24, 2012 by Ray Walser, Ph.D.
Time Is Ripe for U.S. Policy to Address Anti-Americanism in Latin America
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,…
Backgrounder posted September 19, 2012 by Ray Walser, Ph.D.
The Chávez Plan to Steal Venezuela's Presidential Election: What Obama Should Do
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.…
Issue Brief posted February 13, 2012 by Ray Walser, Ph.D.
Venezuela’s Presidential Primary: Capriles Radonski Ready to Challenge Chavez
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…
WebMemo posted July 1, 2011 by Ray Walser, Ph.D.
Hugo Chávez’s Cancer, Authoritarianism, and the U.S.
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…
WebMemo posted March 18, 2011 by Ray Walser, Ph.D.
President Obama in Latin America: Put Hugo Chavez on the Agenda
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…
WebMemo posted September 27, 2010 by Ray Walser, Ph.D.
Venezuela’s Legislative Elections: Democratic Opposition Makes Major Gains
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…
WebMemo posted August 13, 2010 by Ray Walser, Ph.D.
Santos–Chávez Santa Marta Summit: A Moment of Promise and Peril in the Americas
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…