Venezuelan Foreign Policy Background, Institutions and Transformation

under Hugo Chavez

Following Defeat of Spanish

• Bolivarian dream– Gran Colombia

plus– Death of the

dream

• Nineteenth century chaos ends Bolivarian dream

• 1824: Gran Colombia

Historic Goals• Better prices for exports to North Atlantic• Attract foreign investment to facilitate

development • Minimalize political autonomy enjoyed by

North Atlantic interests inside of Venezuela • Protect territorial integrity– Colombia (Guajira peninsula)– Guyana– Brazil, Venezuela and the Amazon

Goals & Tactics• Venezuela – like Brazil -generally assumed a

defensive posture in pursuing its historic goals– Nineteenth Century– First Half of Twentieth Century– During the Punto Fijo democratic government

• Why?

Early Twentieth Century

• The Andeans– Cipriano Castro• Resurgent nationalism• Suspicion of the United States

– Gen. Juan Vicente Gómez (1908-35)– Transitional Andeans (1935-45)• Military presidents• Supported the United States in World War II

Gen. Pérez Jiménez and the Rationalization of Foreign Policy

• Events leading to the Pérez Jiménez government

• Beginning of professional foreign service

• Petroleum policy • Support for the United

States in the Cold War

Institutions and Actors in the foreign policy process of Venezuela

• President– overall coordinator– Names the foreign minister – Personality important in determining how

much attention the president devotes to foreign policy

Military: Before Chavez • 1959 – 1999 – defender of 1961 constitution • Ally of the United States– Officers received U. S. training– U.S. Migroup: strong presence in Venezuela– Assisted in Grenada invasion

• Purchase of U.S. military hardware – Fighter aircraft – F15– Navy purchased Vietnam era swift-boats

frontier defense.

Instituto de Comercio Exterior

• Created by COPEI to increase “non-traditional” Venezuelan exports to South America and the Caribbean

• Tensions with the Chancillería

Business and Labor• Both groups lobbied against entry into the Andean

Pact in early 1970’s • Business can usually count on subsidies to offset

economic difficulties that derive from presidential decisions

• 1958-1998: ties of union to the political parties meant that workers usually accepted the party line on foreign policy decisions.

Venezuela and OPEC

• Pérez Alfonso; a founding father

• Less aggressive than most Arab states throughout the 1960’s

• Venezuela benefited from OPEC decisions following the Yon Kippur War.

Carlos Andrés Pérez and Venezuela´s new militancy within OPEC

• Pushed for high prices• Venezuelan liquid reserves

not as large as middle eastern reserves

• Venezuelan identification with OPEC became more important that membership in the Andean Bloc

• Luis Herrera Campins presides over the second petroleum bonanza

• President Perez

• President Herrera visits OPEC

Declining influence of OPEC Mandates Changes in Venezuela’s OPEC Policy

• Exhaustion of the Pérez policy under Lusinchi (1984 – 88)

• OPEC Importance declines during the Second Pérez government (1989-93)

• Second Caldera government (1994 – 99)– Pressure on OPEC to raise

quotas– PDVSA exceeds

Venezuela’s OPEC quota

Chavez Transforms Venezuelan Foreign

Policy From Ally to Fighting the “Imperio”

•Visa problems during the Clinton Administration

•Mentoring by Fidel Castro

•Clash with President George W. Bush

Alienation from the private sector

Coup of 2002

Fifth Republic

• Much of pro-USA military purged after unsuccessful coup of April 2002

• Chavez has involved the military to a greater extent in policy making and policy implementation