The Foreign Service Journal, June 2011

38 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U N E 2 0 1 1 ing congressional action for more than five years now. In the medium term, it would be a mistake to try to outspend Chávez. Where the U.S. can do the most good is by cooperating with the ef- forts to modernize Latin American economies and to create jobs via scholarships, technical support and financial assistance, as well as deal- ing with immigration problems. While U.S. policy is, at long last, pointing in the right di- rection, Congress does not appear to understand the logic behind the policy. Instead, various leaders have publicly called on the State Department andWhite House to apply sanctions against Venezuela. It is difficult to imagine a worse mistake. For one thing, there is no chance that sanctions against Caracas would work any better than they have in Cuba, Iraq and Iran. On the contrary, as in Cuba, such measures would strengthen Chávez’s hold on Venezuela’s econ- omy and political institutions while weakening, or destroying, indige- nous, pro-democracy civil society groups, as well as the country’s al- ready-debilitated private sector. Moreover, Latin American pub- lic opinion and the region’s govern- ments would react very negatively to sanctions. These would be seen as yet another instance of the Giant of the North using force to get its way in the region and would go a long way to undermine U.S. efforts to promote democracy and prosperity in the region. They would also cause governments to think twice before agreeing to co- operate with Washington in the effort to curb drug traf- ficking. Instead, the Obama administration’s cautious, low-key approach is the best way to deal with the very real threats Hugo Chávez poses. F O C U S Chávez has aggressively backed radical groups in several Latin American countries through financing and tactical support.