Word: vez
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...World's new paradox. Latin America today is less dependent on Washington, and less tolerant of its interventionism, than it has been for decades, thanks to the counterweight of rising star Brazil and the anti-U.S. gospel of Venezuela's oil-rich leftist President, Hugo Chávez. Yet for all that newfound self-reliance, Latin America still looks to the U.S.'s superpower leadership to put the squeeze on rogues like the Honduran coupsters. No other force in the western hemisphere, not Brazil, and certainly not the Organization of American States, wields the requisite economic and diplomatic clout...
...result, any perceived indifference to Honduras on Obama's part could sour his start and make it harder to engage the region on matters Washington cares about, like drugs and trade. Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, who tacitly backed a failed coup attempt against Chávez in 2002, promised a new relationship with Latin America, but saw his free-trade plan for the hemisphere die and drug production soar. Now even moderate Latin leaders are decrying Washington's quiet efforts to use military bases in Colombia for U.S. antidrug operations; their pique will increase if they decide Honduras...
...most surprising result so far might be that Latin America's leftists have abandoned their usual line of accusing Washington of meddling and are lamenting that it hasn't done enough. "Do something, Obama. This is in your hands," Venezuelan firebrand Hugo Chávez groaned on his television show. The Obama Administration argues it has taken action by cutting off military aid to Honduras and revoking the diplomatic visas of several officials. But U.S. conservatives have argued against more punitive steps, saying Zelaya was a menace who had to be taken down. The coup was launched as the leftist leader...
Perhaps more important, the Globovisión feud points to how the U.S. and Venezuela can prod each other to better hemispheric images during the Honduran crisis. The "do something" remark was vintage Chávez, but it also reflected a growing concern in the hemisphere and beyond that Obama isn't exerting enough pressure on Micheletti, and therefore may not be as committed as he has declared to reversing Washington's long history of aiding military coups against leaders who aren't necessarily U.S allies. Likewise, Chávez needs to realize that his calls for Micheletti's regime...
...reach out to the Obama Administration. On the U.S. side, much of the credit goes to Thomas Shannon, outgoing Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs. Shannon, appointed in 2005, worked to alter President George W. Bush's dark first-term relations with Latin America, when Chávez called Bush "the devil" in large part because the White House had tacitly backed the 2002 coup attempt. As a result, the Latin left has less anti-Yanqui fodder to ignite. Shannon's nominated successor, Arturo Valenzuela, should have an easier time as a result. Still, even if the Honduran...