The United States has always wielded a big stick and a big carrot in the Western hemisphere, but lately Hugo Chavez has been defying the stick and offering bigger carrots. Whether this is anomalous or a sign of realignments in the Americas we’ll have to wait to see.
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Unlike Castro, who depended on the Soviet Union, Chavez is completely independent economically, which gives him a large margin to maneuver,” said Luis Lander, a professor of social sciences at the Central University of Venezuela in Caracas.
They should get an economist to pontificate about economic issues. Chavez may be independent economically, but Venezuela is not. 80% of that countries revenues are derived from selling oil. The US is responsible for the bulk of that output.
Which isn’t to say they must sell it to the US – the stuff burns in the EU or China as well as it does in the US. But he’s not able to just function without regard to the market.