International Relations

Venezuela’s International Role: Provider or Gadfly? Looking at Foreign Policy in Context

Sep 18, 2008

On September 20, 2006, a bulky, round-headed man climbed the steps to the speakers’ rostrum of the United Nations General Assembly hall in New York. For a few seconds he glared grimly at the audience and sniffed the air before speaking. “It still smells of sulphur here”, said Hugo Chávez, president of Venezuela, crossing himself. “That’s because the devil stood here yesterday.” He explained that the devil was one George W. Bush, …

Misunderstanding Hugo? Reading Chávez from Álvaro Uribe’s Colombia

Sep 18, 2008

On January 10, 2007, heads of state from all over the world attended the inauguration of Daniel Ortega as president of Nicaragua. As usual, photographs of the event found their way into the international pages of the world’s press. A particularly striking photo shows Hugo Chávez whispering conspiratorially with fellow presidents Evo Morales of Bolivia and Rafael Correa of Ecuador. Chávez, resplendent in red shirt and black slacks, is …

Venezuela: Leading a New Trend in Latin America? An Internationalist Vision

Sep 18, 2008

Hugo Chávez was elected president of Venezuela in 1998 as the result of a demand for radical change expressed by Venezuelan voters. His election also appeared to mark a wave of New Left electoral victories as Latin Americans used the ballot box to express their frustration with failed promises of market opening and democratic restoration to improve living standards of Latin Americans in the 1980s and 1990s. Following Chávez’s …

Category: International Relations

Venezuela’s International Role: Provider or Gadfly? Looking at Foreign Policy in Context

Misunderstanding Hugo? Reading Chávez from Álvaro Uribe’s Colombia

Venezuela: Leading a New Trend in Latin America? An Internationalist Vision