Venezuela FOREIGN RELATIONS
Figure 9. Boundary Disputes, 1990
President Carlos Andrés Pérez appears with President george
Bush during a visit to Washington.
Courtesy The White House
Former President Luis Herrera Campins effectively
described
Venezuela's position in the world when he stated that,
"Effective
action by Venezuela in the area of international affairs
must
take key facts into account: economics--we are a producer-
exporter of oil; politics--we have a stable, consolidated
democracy; and geopolitics--we are at one and the same
time a
Caribbean, Andean, Atlantic, and Amazonian country." After
the
emergence of a democratic system in 1958, a number of
Venezuelan
presidents have stated the basic principles that guided
their
foreign policy. These principles included respect for
human
rights, the right of all peoples to self-determination,
nonintervention in the internal affairs of other nations,
the
peaceful settlement of disputes between nations, the right
of all
peoples to peace and security, support for the elimination
of
colonialism, and a call for significantly higher export
prices
for developing countries' primary products, especially
oil.
Throughout its history, Venezuela's foreign policy also
has been
infused with Simón Bolívar's ideal of promoting the
political and
economic integration of Latin America.
In the democratic era, Venezuela has attempted to
fulfill
these principles through a variety of means. It maintained
active
membership in the United Nations (UN) and its related
agencies,
OPEC, the Organization of American States (OAS) and its
related
entities, the Latin American Integration Association, and
a host
of other world and hemispheric organizations. In all these
forums, Venezuela consistently aligned itself with other
democracies. Although Venezuela has been particularly
active in
the circum-Caribbean area, its foreign policy also has
global
dimensions.
The first two presidents of the democratic era, Rómulo
Betancourt and Raúl Leoni, took courageous stands against
tyrannies of the right and the left. Although motivated in
part
by idealism, these foreign policy positions also responded
to the
pragmatic need to defend the nascent democracy from
foreign
intervention. Both presidents saw their country repeatedly
subjected to propaganda attacks and actual armed
incursions
directed or inspired by Cuban leader Fidel Castro Ruz.
Although
Betancourt and Leoni took a particularly harsh line
against Cuba,
they expressed equal criticism of the right-wing dictator
Rafael
Leónidas Trujillo Molina of the Dominican Republic, who
nearly
succeeded in engineering Betancourt's assassination in
June 1960.
The Betancourt Doctrine, whereby Venezuela refused to
maintain
diplomatic relations with governments formed as a result
of
military coups, was adhered to by both administrations.
Although
the doctrine was much praised, it gradually isolated
Venezuela as
most other Latin American nations became dominated by
nonelected
regimes. Slowly but surely, the doctrine was modified in
the late
1960s and early 1970s, allowing for the reestablishment of
diplomatic relations with Argentina, Panama, Peru, and
most
communist countries. In December 1974, President Rafael
Caldera
announced the normalization of relations with Cuba.
Relations with neighboring Guyana have been strained
for
decades by Venezuela's claim to all territory west of the
Essequibo River, more than half the present size of Guyana
(see
fig. 9). A 1966 tripartite agreement in Geneva established
a
Guyana-Venezuela commission to discuss the dispute. In
1970
President Caldera agreed to a twelve-year moratorium on
the
issue. The dispute was, with the concurrence of both
parties,
referred to the UN Secretary General in March 1983 for a
determination of an appropriate means for settlement.
There appeared to be some prospect for improved
relations
between the two countries during the 1990s. One auspicious
indication of this was the talks between the foreign
ministers,
held both in Venezuela and Guyana, in early 1990. The
ministers
not only discussed the lingering territorial question, but
also
committed their governments to greater cooperation in a
number of
fields, including energy and health. Guyana has expressed
interest in importing electricity from Venezuela's mammoth
Guri
Dam; both countries shared concern over the control of
tropical
diseases.
Relations with Colombia have also been intermittently
tense
during the last half of the twentieth century. Caracas and
Bogotá
have been engaged in a long dispute regarding sovereignty
over
the Golfo de Venezuela (or the Golfo de Guajira, as the
Colombians refer to it). Tensions arising from the dispute
contributed to a high-level military alert following the
intrusion of a Colombian ship into Venezuelan territorial
waters
in August 1988. Both countries managed to back away from
the
brink of open conflict over the incident; in March 1989,
the two
presidents met at the border to discuss this and other
points of
contention, most of which arose from the closely linked
frontier
economies along the vast land border. Venezuelans
consistently
assumed that most Colombians living in their country were
indocumentados (undocumented or illegal aliens) and
routinely accused them of a variety of crimes, real or
imagined.
A constructive outcome of the presidents' meeting at
the
border in 1989 was the creation of a five-member
international
conciliation commission, headed by Adolfo Suárez González,
the
former Spanish prime minister, and including, among
others, two
former Latin American presidents. Three bilateral
commissions
were also established to study specific issues. The
intensification of drug trafficking added a new urgency to
better
cooperation between the two countries. Most observers
believed
that relations improved after 1989 and that
intergovernmental
cooperation in controlling narcotics trafficking and
guerrilla
activities along the border expanded. Colombian president
Cesar
Gaviria used the occasion of his August 1990 inauguration
to meet
with President Pérez and to reconfirm Colombia's
commitment to
the agreements signed by the border commissions. For his
part,
Pérez stressed the need to continue regular meetings
between the
two heads of state in order to maintain coordinated
efforts not
only on the resolution of border issues but also in the
formulation of regional foreign policy and economic
integration
efforts.
Under the first Pérez administration (1974-79),
Venezuela
provided matériel, support, and advice to the Sandinista
National
Liberation Front (Frente Sandinista de Liberación
Nacional--FSLN)
during its struggle to oust the dictatorship of Anastasio
Somoza
Debayle in Nicaragua. President Herrera, who subsequently
led the
Andean Common Market
(
Ancom; see Glossary) efforts for a peaceful
transition of government in that Central American nation,
became
increasingly disenchanted with mounting political
repression
under the Sandinistas. In 1983 Venezuela joined with
Colombia,
Mexico, and Panama to seek a regional solution to Central
America's problems through the
Contadora Group (see Glossary) process. In his second
administration, Pérez helped to
push the
Sandinistas into allowing the democratic elections of
February
1990, in which opposition candidate Violeta Barrios de
Chamorro
defeated Daniel Ortega of the FSLN and became Nicaragua's
president.
Venezuela bolstered its commitment to Chamorro's
government
by sending nearly 1,000 soldiers to participate in the UN
peacekeeping mission in Nicaragua. This was the first time
that
Venezuela had sent troops outside the country to
demobilize
warring factions. In a more traditional vein, Venezuela
also
cancelled Nicaragua's US$143 million oil debt and resumed
oil
shipments to the Central American country. Venezuela had
suspended its oil trade with Nicaragua in 1982 as a result
of
that nation's default in paying its oil import bill; the
cutoff
was also intended to signal Venezuela's disappointment
with the
lack of progress toward democratic government in Nicaragua
at the
time.
Apart from their differences in relation to Nicaragua
and
Venezuela's strong support of Argentina during the 1982
Falklands/Malvinas conflict, relations with the United
States
have been generally close. The minor tensions between the
two
countries have been exacerbated by trade issues;
Venezuela's main
objections in this regard concerned United States import
policies, which, in the Venezuelans' opinion, raised
excessive
barriers to Venezuelan products. Also in the economic
sphere, the
fact that most of Venezuela's foreign debt was owed to
United
States banks represented a major point of continuing
contention
between the two countries.
From the United States perspective, Venezuelan efforts
at
economic reform under President Pérez provided
opportunities for
an expansion of ties, particularly in the area of foreign
investment. To the surprise of many analysts, Pérez, who
in his
first administration (1974-79) assumed a cool, almost
hostile
stance toward foreign investment, proved much more
favorably
disposed to foreign capital in his second term. His
administration removed previous limitations on the
remittance and
reinvestment of profits by foreign companies. The
government also
approved majority foreign control of companies in several
sectors
previously closed to foreign investment, such as public
services,
domestic transportation, and export services. Although the
administration hinted at the possibility of foreign
participation
in oil exploration and refining, it did not immediately
enact
such measures. After decades of restrictions, however, the
new
regulations generally opened the local capital market to
foreign
companies and promised a reduction in the government's
discretionary interference in foreign investment
decisions.
Because of its long democratic tradition, as well as
its
support for democratic institutions in other countries,
Venezuela
was respected and considered a leader among the Latin
American
nations. It maintained good relations in the Third World,
although it had few commercial or other close ties with
Third
World nations. Venezuela also maintained relations with
the
Soviet Union and the countries of Eastern Europe and
strongly
supported the political openings there beginning in the
late
1980s. In many ways, Venezuela often felt as close to
Western
Europe as it did to the United States, but the nature of
these
relations changed according to who held power in Caracas:
AD
administrations tended to pursue close ties with the
socialist
and social-democratic parties and governments in Europe;
COPEI
governments established close ties with the Christian
democratic
and more centrist parties and governments of Europe.
Venezuela's domestic breakthrough in 1958 to a
functioning
democratic system was soon reflected in the conduct of its
foreign policy. As that system grew stronger, and as the
nation's
economic status improved along with rising oil prices in
the
1970s, Venezuela's role on the world stage became a more
prominent one. Venezuela was a founding member of OPEC,
and has
exercised a responsible role within that organization.
Outside of
OPEC, Venezuela acted during the 1980s to supply oil to
the
emerging democracies in the Caribbean in an effort to ease
the
burden of these often heavily indebted nations. Venezuelan
diplomacy also vigorously supported the establishment and
strengthening of democracy in the Dominican Republic and
in
Central America. As a member of the Contadora group of
nations
dealing with the Central American crisis of the mid-1980s,
Venezuela advocated the establishment of democratic
systems and
procedures in the region as the most beneficial solution
both for
the countries involved as well as for Venezuela's own
political
and economic interests in the region. In the UN, the OAS,
and
other Third World forums, Venezuela has consistently
sought to
advance the same basic goals, namely democracy and
development.
The future course of Venezuela's foreign policy,
regardless
of its direction, will undoubtedly depend upon the status
of
these two factors: the stability of the governmental
system and
the state of the national economy. The nation's commitment
to the
overarching principle of representative democracy appeared
to be
unalterable.
* * *
Venezuela has been the focus of several careful
political
analyses and studies in English. Among the major titles
are John
D. Martz and David J. Myers's Venezuela: The Democratic
Experience, Enrique A. Baloyra and John D. Martz's
Political Attitudes in Venezuela, and David J.
Myers's
Venezuela's Pursuit of Caribbean Basin Interests:
Implications
for U.S. National Security. Significant volumes on
more
specific topics include Robert J. Alexander's Rómulo
Betancourt and the Transformation of Venezuela, David
Eugene
Blank's Venezuela: Politics in a Petroleum
Republic,
The Nationalization of the Venezuelan Oil Industry
by
Gustavo Coronel, Political Mobilization of the
Venezuelan
Peasant by John Duncan Powell, and Luis Vallenilla's
Oil:
The Making of a New Economic Order. (For further
information
and complete citations,
see
Bibliography.)
Data as of December 1990
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