Contemporary Latin America Politics Research Proposal

Contemporary Latin America Politics - Research Proposal Example While Venezuela is not presently engaged in any attritional conflict with its neighbors, its relationship with the United States has declined steadily over the recent past. The escalating tension between the United States and Venezuela is attributable to both ideological and material reasons. On the side of ideology, Venezuela is presently led by Hugo Chavez, a highly popular Socialist Party member. His party and its policies derive from Marxist doctrines, which are anathema to the capitalist economic organization seen here in the United States. Moreover, Mr. Chavez is not hesitant to openly condemn American leadership and its alleged hegemonic impulses. A diplomatic flashpoint occurred during the United Nations General Assembly of 2006 when Hugo Chavez cited American leftist intellectual Noam Chomsky’s book ‘Hegemony or Survival’ to support his criticism of high handed foreign policy measures of the United States government. The speech is unprecedented in terms of its audacity and confrontational tone, which almost no diplomatic goodwill was left between the two nations ever since (Tinker-Salas, p.52). Adding to the Venezuelan problem is the open and tacit support that it receives from Latin and Central American nations. For example, Venezuela’s attempt to garner a UN Security Council seat was supported by several countries with influence in the General Assembly, including China, Russia, Malaysia and India. American trading partners in the region such as Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile are also likely to back Venezuela. If Venezuela’s bid should succeed in the future, then it will give a new thrust to the Non-Aligned Movement, by shifting its headquarters out of New York and into a city in the hemispheric South such as Brasilia, Havana or Caracas (Tinker-Salas, p.53). If this does become a reality in the near future, it will be a huge