24 April 2002
Summary
The recent political turmoil in Venezuela has given Democratic congressional leaders in Washington an opportunity to create a divisive issue ahead of November's mid-term congressional elections. With the economy on the rebound, Democrats are looking at the Bush administration's foreign policy. The party likely will exploit three crises in Latin America -- Argentina, Colombia and Venezuela -- as evidence of the administration's incompetence.
Analysis
Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, narcotics and Peace Corps, reportedly plans to schedule hearings soon on the recent political upheaval in Venezuela. Subcommittee sources tell STRATFOR that Dodd will look into allegations that the Bush administration was involved in, or had advance knowledge of, the April 11-14 military coup against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
The planned hearings will unfold over the next several weeks or months against a backdrop of continuing political instability in Venezuela, deepening economic collapse and hyperinflation in Argentina and the likely election of Alvaro Uribe Velez as Colombia's next president. While the hearings likely will conclude that the Bush administration played no role whatsoever in the coup that briefly toppled Chavez, Dodd could seek to portray the worsening economic and political crises in Latin America as evidence of the incompetence of Bush's Latin America policy team.
Summary
The recent political turmoil in Venezuela has given Democratic congressional leaders in Washington an opportunity to create a divisive issue ahead of November's mid-term congressional elections. With the economy on the rebound, Democrats are looking at the Bush administration's foreign policy. The party likely will exploit three crises in Latin America -- Argentina, Colombia and Venezuela -- as evidence of the administration's incompetence.
Analysis
Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, narcotics and Peace Corps, reportedly plans to schedule hearings soon on the recent political upheaval in Venezuela. Subcommittee sources tell STRATFOR that Dodd will look into allegations that the Bush administration was involved in, or had advance knowledge of, the April 11-14 military coup against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
The planned hearings will unfold over the next several weeks or months against a backdrop of continuing political instability in Venezuela, deepening economic collapse and hyperinflation in Argentina and the likely election of Alvaro Uribe Velez as Colombia's next president. While the hearings likely will conclude that the Bush administration played no role whatsoever in the coup that briefly toppled Chavez, Dodd could seek to portray the worsening economic and political crises in Latin America as evidence of the incompetence of Bush's Latin America policy team.