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December 05, 2005
Hugo Chavez: Gnat Or Nemesis?
The answer turns on the test of the terror-tyranny linkage theory. We shouldn't prefer a tinpot dictator in South America (nor should his people). And we don't. Though Venezuelan oil is not unimportant, it isn't critical either, and a self-containing despot of the old style is someone the United States needn't elevate to the level of major antagonist. Of course, Chavez likes a high profile. But is he out for blood, or only his own glory? Playing with America's ostracized nonstate enemies is playing with fire. Yet in a situation where geopolitics seems to pull to the margins -- toward isolation or integration -- we may see Venezuela become a pariah state through inertia, the automatic application of standing principles and postures. That, not a sore-thumb Banana Republic, is something we can ill afford.
Posted by James G. Poulos at December 5, 2005 02:30 PM
