This article was originally posted by The Associated Press
Venezuela’s diplomatic fight with Colombia comes at an opportune time for Hugo Chavez, who could benefit politically if he manages to shifts voters’ attention away from a recession, Latin America’s highest inflation and rampant crime.
Venezuela’s socialist president is playing up his dispute with U.S.-allied Colombia in an apparent attempt to rally nationalist sentiment against foreign enemies ahead of legislative elections in September.
He severed relations with Colombia last week in response to allegations that Venezuela has become a haven for Colombian rebels — and without missing a beat he sought to portray those accusations as a plot against him by Bogota and Washington. It’s a theme likely to be repeated Thursday at a meeting of South American foreign ministers in Ecuador.
The narrative helps Chavez play on supporters’ patriotism and redirect attention away from potentially damaging accusations. But even for a leader accustomed to making claims of conspiracies, his rhetoric has been particular strong.
“The possibility of an armed attack from Colombian territory on Venezuela’s territory has a probability that it’s never had before in many years. I’d say 100 years,” Chavez told a rally of supporters over the weekend. “I’m obliged to tell the people the truth: We are threatened by the Yankee empire.”
Chavez has long accused the U.S. of trying to oust him since he survived a 2002 coup, and he insists his concerns about a possible armed conflict are genuine. Yet Chavez’s forceful verbal counterattack — from threatening to cut off U.S. oil shipments to talking of a threat of war — also seem politically expedient.
He has plenty to be concerned about at home: 31 percent inflation, a recession that saw the economy contract 3.3 percent last year, unchecked crime and a scandal involving thousands of tons of food found rotting or beyond expiration dates in government storage.
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