South Americans Wary Of Chavez

HOW DANGEROUS is Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chávez? Everybody is suddenly getting anxious about lefty dictators taking over in South America. But one result of his saber-rattling is that other South American leaders are moving closer to the United States, according to Martin Krause.

South American leaders have been meeting in Vienna to negotiate with the European Union about a free-trade pact. And it turns out that many of the leaders are less than elated with the Venezuelan’s bully-boy tactics.

Chávez did a great job breaking up the Summit of the Americas in November 2005, but the result seems to have been to encourage leaders to move more towards a private economy and expanded trade. Writes Krause:

The socialist Chilean president Michelle Bachelet continues and deepens the reforms of past decades, they are now even considering the privatization of jails. The socialist Uruguayan president is asking for bilateral trade negotiations with the US.

The Peruvians sent home the Venezuelan ambassador for meddling in their election. And the Brazilians aren’t too happy about Bolivia expropriating their state oil company, Petrobras.

And what happens to Venezuela’s big stick when oil prices go back down again?

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Christopher Chantrill blogs at www.roadtothemiddleclass.com. His Road to the Middle Class is forthcoming.

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