Western Hemisphere
In his first-ever visit to Venezuela under Hugo Chávez's regime, Fidel Castro stated that for the Cuban revolution to survive, the Bolivarian Revolution must live on. This premise would spawn a political and economic alliance, supported by Venezuelan oil and bound to spread throughout the continent, directly meddling into the affairs of countries within the region and attempting to produce changes of a revolutionary nature.

When Hugo Chávez first took office, his sole ally in consolidating his revolution was Cuba. Social missions are viewed as some of the most important contributions made by Fidel to avoid Chávez's defeat in the recall referendum. Those missions helped reverse voting tendencies that only a year earlier were unfavorable to the revolution.

From then on, Cuban presence plays an important role in the most significant issues of Venezuelan political power and has been key in the progress of the revolutionary process. The president has been unambiguous on this issue: "I am under the advisory of Fidel, my political father," he recently said in connection to the financial crisis.

Exporting the revolution
Once victory was achieved in 2004, Castro's old plan of spreading the revolution throughout the continent became the central focus of the Bolivarian revolution. As a result, since the end of 2004, Chávez has set out, aided by the growth of the global economy and rise in oil prices, to implement his geopolitical project. To do so, he developed at the end of that year, the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), which now groups six countries, along with other parallel organizations such as the Bolivarian Congress of the Peoples or the World Social Forum.  It was no coincidence that, on December 9 of that very same year, he agreed to declare 2005 as "the year for the offensive and advancement of the unity of the Latin American peoples."

Those statements established the commitment to fight the economic and militaristic policies of the Bush Administration in the hemisphere, evidenced through the ALCA, Plan Colombia and military bases in Latin American territory.

Approximately 50 organizations from different Latin American countries and political figures such as Evo Morales (Bolivia), Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas (Mexico), the Farabundo Martí Front (El Salvador), los Piqueteros (Argentina),  the Landless Movement (Brazil) and Pachacutik (Ecuador), have taken part in events hosted by Hugo Chávez and Carlos Lage, Vice President of the State Council of Cuba.

Since the beginning of this process, several leftist leaders of the region, supported by resources and advisory provided by the Venezuelan government, have managed to rise to power in their respective countries. Three ideological allies have followed the path set out by Hugo Chávez: Evo Morales in Bolivia, Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua and Rafael Correa in Ecuador. In each of these countries, claims of Venezuelan interference in the election process abound.

The governments of Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, though clearly oriented toward democratic socialism, have benefited from business offered by Venezuela, mainly in the areas of food exports and industrial agreements favoring Brazilian and Argentine companies.

It was, nonetheless, Venezuelan interference in the electoral campaign of Argentina that was brought to light under the USD 800,000 briefcase scandal. Also, there is a direct link to radical groups such as Brazil's Landless Movement and Argentina's Los Piqueteros, which spread the message of the revolution against the moderate stance of their respective governments toward the United States.

Other governments, like Manuel Zelaya's (Honduras) and Fernando Lugo's (Paraguay), have entered into important agreements with Venezuela. Even though Zelaya heads a liberal democratic government, his country joined ALBA in view of the economic benefits offered. The same applies to Paraguay, whose ties to Venezuela have caused internal issues for the government of Fernando Lugo.

Other countries in which governments not aligned with Chávez's radical and populist project were elected are not free from Venezuelan interference. In Mexico, controversies arose, ending with the expulsion of Venezuelan Ambassador Vladimir Villegas for involvement in a political event of defeated pro-Chávez candidate López Obrador; however, Bolivarian groups continue operations and support the hardcore leftwing. A similar situation happened in Peru amidst claims over Venezuelan support to then presidential hopeful Ollanta Humala.

In Colombia, the case of Raúl Reyes's computers revealed the ties between the Venezuelan government and the FARC, as well as funding of Senator Piedad Córdoba's work in leveraging the leadership of Hugo Chávez.

Claims
Complaints of interference by Chávez's government in other nations' internal policies have spanned the continent. The President of the Peruvian Congress Javier Velásquez denounced political intromission in favor of radical leftist groups of that nation. "In my country (Chávez supporters) have established operations aimed at undermining democracy through movements in disguise, such as the ALBA houses, attempting to interfere in the political environment," alerted Javier Velásquez in an interview published by local newspaper El Mercurio. The President of Peru, Alan García, has repeatedly accused Hugo Chávez's government of funding Peruvian radical groups.

The annual report prepared by the US Senate places large emphasis on the Venezuelan case. This document highlights: "Inspired and backed by Venezuela and Cuba, the leaders of Bolivia, Nicaragua and, slightly more hesitantly, Ecuador, are pursuing agendas that shorten the limits to presidential power and seek to extend presidential terms, enervate the media and civil liberties and emphasize economic nationalism at the expense of a market economy."

The report also claims that Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez "will continue to pursue actions to unify Latin America under his leadership, through a radical, leftist, anti-US agenda and to view Cuba as key ideological ally."

In El Salvador diplomatic debate has spurred on as a result of fuel supply at preferential prices to mayor's offices held by the Farabundo Martí Front. Also, claims of Venezuelan electoral support of that organization have been made.

In 2007, the Bolivian Senate, controlled by the opposition, issued a resolution demanding Morales to protest to Chávez's "interference" in the internal affairs of the country, originated by Chávez's speech in Cuba, where he threatened to launch military intervention if Evo Morales were overthrown. This threat of military intervention was repeated in September 2008. On this occasion, the Commander in Chief of the Bolivian Armed Forces, General Luis Trigo, rejected Venezuelan interference.

Verbal assaults against the government of Álvaro Uribe and the "Colombian oligarchy" have become a staple of bilateral relations. The attack on the FARC campgrounds in Ecuador and the Venezuelan reaction of sending troops to the border shifted the conflict from words to actions. Uribe's government is gathering evidence of Hugo Chávez's FARC connections in order to bring the case before international instances. Nevertheless, the economic dependence between both bordering countries and OAS agreements managed to hold off Colombian actions against Venezuela momentarily.

Francisco Olivares

folivares@eluniversal.com

Translated by Félix Rojas

Francisco Olivares
EL UNIVERSAL