As the world remains riveted to the gold medal count in Beijing and the Russian invasion of Georgia, one of the most recognizable men in South America is making a comeback..
Nearly ten months ago, Hugo Chavez, the fiery, socialist leader of Venezuela, seemed chastened after losing a key plebiscite. Voters rejected his 69 proposed alternations to the constitution - including one that would have abolished the term limit on his office.
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Chavez, who had relished any opportunity to criticize the US on the world stage, became unusually reticent. While underneath the radar of the world press, however, Chavez quietly continued to pursue his radical agenda both domestically and internationally. In fact, he has played a significant role on several major fronts since the beginning of the year.
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Despite being a primary financial backer of the notorious rebel group FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), Chavez earned acclaim early in 2008 by setting six FARC hostages free through negotiation with his armed client. Only a few months later, he reversed course and asked FARC to end its 44-year insurgency against the Colombian government and release all of its hostages. Shock waves were sent through both the hemisphere and the State Department. Why was Chavez suddenly abandoning his leverage over Colombian politics? Most likely, he calculated that continued support of the guerrillas, who often conduct operations with little consideration of the plight of civilians, would further erode his meager 37% approval rating. FARC had also become unruly and failed to achieve any political objectives from its actions on the ground.
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On the homefront, Chavez has kept up an active socialist agenda. In the first week of April, he nationalized the cement industry. According to Chavez, foreign cement producers, particularly CEMEX of Monterrey, Mexico, had been fleecing Venezuelan buyers and had continuously failed to deliver enough product. One week later, Venezuelan soldiers occupied 32 sugar plantations and confiscated the property from its private owners. The rationale behind the move was to ramp-up production of the 'idle' and misused lands by setting up collective farm units for the benefit of workers and consumers alike. As Chavez orchestrated the nationalization campaigns to re-ignite the citizens behind his agenda, he was also in the midst of reviving a propaganda campaign against the US in order to portray Venezuela, once again, not only as the victim of avaricious multinational corporations but US 'hegemony' as well.
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After being largely inactive on the international scene over the the first half of the year, Chavez began to create new waves by visiting Moscow. During his trip in late July, he signed a major business deal with Gazprom, the state-owned Russian energy company, to cooperatively drill in Venezuela. Russian armaments, helicopters and warplanes were also purchased. While no evidence exists that Putin and Chavez discussed a premeditated Russian strike against Georgia at the slightest pretext for war, the timing of Chavez' visit is a bit curious. The Venezuelan strongman immediately launched an all-out tirade, subsequent to the Russian incursion, and blamed the US and its 'puppet' government in Georgia for initiating the conflict. Shortly thereafter, he announced an upcoming trip to Beijing to deepen economic and political relations. By returning to his propagandist roots and anti-US machinations, Chavez has conspicuously returned to the world arena after a brief hiatus.
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Regardless of his loss at the polls last December, Chavez still has five years (2013) to tighten a socialist noose around his country and exercise influence around the globe.
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As the US will remain mired in Iraq and Afghanistan for the foreseeable future, Washington needs to monitor and develop a strategy to deal with an emerging Moscow-Beijing-Tehran-Caracas nexus designed to counter American efforts to promote human rights, security and free-trade. A serious, multilateral dialog with NATO members and other allies would be a logical starting point.
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J Roquen