Chavez's Hemispheric Stature

Hugo Chavez has distinguished himself as a credible world leader who is also a declared enemy of the Bush administration. In this he differs greatly from the Islamic fundamentalists of al-Qaida and other such pan-Islamic movements as the Taliban, whose credibility is close to zero outside the Muslim world.

His economic policies tend toward socialism and favor the poor, and include extensive land reform to encourage repopulation of the countryside, which has largely emptied out during the oil boom. He is deeply resented by Venezuela’s entrenched business interests and the traditional landed oligarchy. He significantly raised taxes on oil extraction by Citgo, the U.S.-based subsidiary of the Venezuelan state oil company, and has been one of OPEC’s most vocal advocates of maintaining high crude oil prices.

In foreign policy he is one of the hemisphere’s leading advocates of a program he calls Latin American integration, through which the countries south of the Rio Grande would pursue policies of mutually beneficial cooperation and band together to oppose U.S. domination of the region. He has also forged a strong alliance with Cuba’s Fidel Castro.

Following his appearance on “Nightline,” Chavez took advantage of a summit at the U.N. to deliver a wildly applauded speech to the General Assembly. Beginning with a sharp criticism of the Bush administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina, he went on to describe President Bush as “a threat to the world,” and declared that the U.S. is “a terrorist state,” adding that in his view, Iraqis have the right to defend themselves against a “criminal” war.

Following his speech, Chavez paid a visit to one of the poorest neighborhoods in New York’s Bronx Borough at the invitation of U.S. Representative Joseph Serrano (D-NY).

“Chavez went to the poorest congressional district in the nation’s richest city, and people of the street there just went crazy,” Serrano said. “A lot of people told me they were mesmerized by him. He made quite an impression."

But other U.S. lawmakers were less entranced. Florida Republican Representative Connie Mack grumbled that Chavez’s grandstanding only appealed to “those people that oppose freedom and dislike the United States,” and added menacingly, “He’s an emerging threat, a gathering storm we have to pay attention to.”

There can be little doubt that Hugo Chavez’s performance of the last couple of months has been choreographed for the specific purpose of raising his status from that of a regional leader to one of global significance. He appears to be making a serious attempt to emerge as the non-Muslim force around which both hemispheric and global opposition to American imperialism and the Bush administration’s aggressive policies might coalesce.

With his large petroleum resources and his great popularity in his own country, in Latin America, and increasingly, north of the border as well, Chavez apparently feels he’s holding all the high cards. He might bluster about an imminent U.S. invasion, but he knows as well as Donald Rumsfeld that’s not going to happen, and he apparently feels securely prepared to fend off the next U.S.-sponsored coup, which is likely to come this winter or early in 2006.