All is not quiet on the Western Front

CARACAS, Venezuela, April 24 (Reuters) - Venezuela is ending military operations and exchanges with the United States, President Hugo Chávez said Sunday, and he ordered out American instructors who he said had been trying to foment unrest in the barracks against him.



Mr. Chávez, a leftist who often accuses Washington of working to oust him, said: "Some of them were waging a campaign in the Venezuelan military - making comments, talking to Venezuelan soldiers, criticizing the president of Venezuela. It's better for them to leave."

So what does this mean for us? The end of military cooperation amounted to a further downgrading of ties between Venezuela, the world's No. 5 oil exporter, and its main oil customer, the United States. We import 1,564 barrels of oil a day from Venezuela amounting to 13.3% of our total imports. That might not sound like a lot but it translates to 7.7% of our total domestic oil supply. Gas prices would soar if that source dried up. Adding to the confusion and making this so dangerous are offers on the table from China, giving him an easy out from the U.S. market. Bush’s plan for action requires the support of the region which he is having trouble attaining. He has found no allies so far in his attempts to isolate the Venezuelan leader, and he has grown more and more frustrated by Mr. Chávez's strident anti-American outbursts and policies that seem intended to fly in the face of Washington.

So I pose the question to you. What is the right call here, and what do you think the Bush administration should do?

 

Chavez has all the right to do it, however, he's only doing it to prove a point to the rest of the world, that the US can be "beaten" just in a different way.

 

The right thing to do would be to enter serious negotiations with him regarding the use of his nations oil supplies and keeping our nose out of there business in other areas.

What are they going to do? Looks like it may be another war if the situation presents itself and Bush can present a case of Chavez being an intolerable dictator of his country.

 

and that my good friend is what I am "worried" about.

 

We're not gonna go to war with Venezuela.

 

I dont doubt that we will come to some sort of medium on this, its just.....shitty.

 

We definitely would not go to war with Venezuela - in the end it wouldn't even be worth it. Also, then our influence might spread into Colombia and then Ecuador......

 

:werd: or finance a coup to oust the current government and hold elections for a friendlier president :thumbup:

 

The logical mind should come to that conclusion and make it work somehow.....but I haven't seen much to convince me of logical thinking in foreign affairs for some time now.

and no I don't just mean the Bush administration...its been bad for at least 20 years now.

 

and then later when we dont like the person we put in charge we will wage war on them......oh wait...we already did that.