Venezuela in USA Today

The June 5 USA Today featured a short article ("Chavez looms over Peru's runoff vote," page 8A) which described Peruvian presidential candidate Ollanta Humala as a "firey nationalist" who, if elected, would assure that Peru "tilts into Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez' orbit." How can this be? Certainly, your editors must have spotted the paradox: a "firey nationalist" would assure that his country is not the satellite of anyone.

I suspect your writer and editors were blinded by their own nationalism. If the United States is the center of your political universe, as it has been for Latin American governments for most of the last century, then Peru doing what's best for Peru might seem too independent from Washington, and look like its trying to "help Chavez expand his anti-U.S. influence." But there's no chance that Peru will become a puppet of its sister Venezuela. Independence from Washington does not necessarily mean dependence on Caracas, Havana, Moscow, Beijing, or anywhere else. (In Monroe's era, it would have been London, Paris or the Hague.) Latin America is seeking to do more for itself and diversify its outside sources.

This is rational self interest, not irrational anti-Americanism. It should be also noted that Venezuela, while "anti-U.S." in the sense of opposing U.S. policy (as do most of the American people), has been a great friend to America by offering its people low-cost heating oil, hurricane relief, and free medical care, consistent with Chavez' characterization of himself and his country as pro-American.

[end letter]

What's amazing to me is the contradiction. It's just like the Washington Post article that I blogged about earlier. The conclusions directly contradict the evidence, but no matter. I will post something soon on another revealing anomaly: Chavez visits Qadaffi in Libya. The report of his visit notes the damage from U.S. airstrikes and emphasizes Qadaffi's history as an enemy of the U.S., tarnishing Chavez by association. The day before, an article on Qadaffi quotes Condoleeza Rice lauding Qadaffi as a model for other nations to follow. (Just not Venezuela, apparently.)