Interventionism

President Hugo Chávez has gained unprecedented powers within Venezuela through Executive Decrees. His unchecked powers coupled with Venezuela’s oil wealth have allowed him to drive his ideology at home and extend his influence across almost all of Latin America and beyond.

Outside of the Middle East, Venezuela is the world’s largest oil supplier. As a result, Mr. Chávez has become a force to be reckoned with at a global level. Oil revenues have allowed him to spend billions of dollars abroad in an annual basis. It is also true that over 30 countries, including some as far as Indonesia and Gambia, have received assistance or special deals from Mr. Chávez.

Disguised as financial assistance, President Chávez’s strategy to exert influence on the domestic affairs of other countries is focused but not limited to Latin America and the Caribbean. Over the years, he has supported all kinds of projects – some as small as subsidizing samba parades in Brazil and some as generous as bond purchases in South America. The Chávez government has effectively become the lender of last resort across the continent. As reported by The New York Times, the “[Chávez] government has purchased $2.5 billion in Argentine debt,” “[sold] oil at cut-rate prices to 13 Caribbean countries,” and “[bought] a big stake in Uruguayan gas stations.”

In 2007, Chávez announced a $2 billion international investment fund for Latin America in cooperation with none other than Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. His burgeoning friendship with Ahmadinejad could have serious implications for peace efforts in the Middle East. It is also well known that Iran’s government is assisting Venezuela in identifying uranium reserves in the country, ostensibly to serve the Iranian nuclear weapons program. Venezuela also boasts great ties to Russia and China, the latter provides billions of dollars in loans to the South American country. Mr. Chávez has also aligned himself boisterously with the likes of fallen dictators such as Muammar Qaddafi.

In the region, the Colombian government has become one of the primary targets of Mr. Chávez’s interventionism. In August 2009, Colombia filed a formal complaint with the Organization of American States, accusing President Chávez of interfering with Colombia’s internal affairs. This came after several major incidents that have implicated Venezuela in the funding and arming of the FARC guerrillas. In 2011, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Controls (OFAC), placed four high-ranking Venezuelan officials on the list of Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) under the Kingpin Act, accusing them of arming the FARC.

Venezuela’s “donations” across Latin America are a sure way for President Chávez to continue wielding his influence in the region. In Nicaragua, Ecuador, and Bolivia, democratically-elected leaders often seem to oblige more to Mr. Chávez’s agenda than to their own people’s interests.