Moises Naim is the editor of Foreign Policy magazine and the author of “Illicit: How Smugglers, Traffickers and Copycats Are Hijacking the Global Economy.”
While President Hugo Chavez has been molding Venezuela into his personal socialist vision, other transformations — less visible but equally profound — have taken hold in the country.
Venezuela has become a major hub for international crime syndicates. What attracts them is not the local market; what they really love are the excellent conditions Venezuela offers to anyone in charge of managing a global criminal network.
A nation at the crossroads of South America, the Caribbean, North America and Europe, Venezuela’s location is ideal. Borders? Long, scantly populated and porous. Financial system? Large and with easy-to-evade governmental controls. Telecommunications, ports and airports? The best that oil money can buy. U.S. influence? Nil. Corrupt politicians, cops, judges and military officers? Absolutely: Transparency International ranked Venezuela a shameful 162 out of 179 counties on its corruption perception index. Chavez’s demonstrated interest in confronting criminal networks during his eight years in power? Not much.
While this situation has so far been rather invisible to the rest of the world, it is patently clear to those in charge of fighting transnational crime. Anti-trafficking officials in Europe, the United States, Asia and other Latin American countries are paying unprecedented attention to Venezuela. These officials are not particularly interested in Venezuelan politics or in Chavez’s policies. All they care about is that the tentacles of these global criminal networks are spreading from Venezuela into their countries with enormous power and at great speed.
‘Why don’t you shut up!’
The words of King Juan Carlos 1 of Spain to the Venezuelan President, Hugo Chávez, in the closing session of the Latin American summit today.
http://barcepundit-english.blogspot.com/2007/11/im-not-pro-monarchy-in-sense-that-i.html
I’m a bit surprised by this. Chavez’s government is, by all appearances, a glorified crime syndicate. They usually don’t cotton to rivals in their midst…unless they’re getting a cut.
This sort of thing usually doesn’t end well, but what’s curious is that there’s not a lot of discussion of Brazil. If they aspire to regional leadership, this will be laid at their doorstep sooner or later. It’s like South Africa and Zimbabwe, come the implosion, but I don’t see Brazil being as amoral and passive. You’d hope not anyway.
Lula is a leftist, feet, and as such has to treat Chavez with respect or lose the support of his own party.
That’s until Venezuela implodes. After that, Hugo’s an embarrassment, and Brazil will do that realism thing where preventing Venezuela’s collapse from accruing to the benefit of the U.S. will present them with a whole range of unpleasant options made more unpleasant by their previous tolerance of his regime. That’s just my guess. I don’t really know anything, other than that Brazil aspires to be the go to guy for South America, and treating Chavez with respect will become increasingly untenable and compromising of that goal.
How about a link to the Dr. Evil poster? Thanks!
http://www.jareeedo.com/106/Stonybrook/photos/unsorted/dr%20evil%20linux%201600×1200.jpg
Bingo!
You may be right, ‘feet, and Brazil will take a more active role in either reining Chavez in or, failing that, seeing that his inevitable flame-out is contained. I just remember Brazil being more attuned to its relationships with America, Europe and Japan more than its neighbors. With the possible exception of Argentina and (to a much lesser extent) Chile, with whom Brazil enjoys a lot of trade and cultural ties, I don’t recall much in the way of concern over the other Spanish-speaking nations of South America largely because, if my view, the frontiers of Brazil with these countries tends to be remote, heavily forested and/or economically a basket case.
It sounds like a kind of uncompelling history on which to base a bid for permanent Security Council membership, and relative apathy about the establishment of a dictatorship next door won’t help their case. That said, I’m just guessing –