?Recent media headlines have been focused on local developments. Unfortunately, while we have been celebrating the end of one year and the beginning of another, tensions among some of our South American neighbours have been increasing. Essentially, Venezuela has been acting up again, and there have been two recent developments to which President Chavez has responded. Firstly, Venezuela has been accusing the United States of using the Dutch islands of Aruba and Curacao to prepare for a possible military attack. In a statement released a couple of weeks ago, the Venezuelan Government accused the US of working with The Netherlands to prepare for some sort of aggressive action against Venezuela. This is not the first time President Hugo Chavez has made this claim.
Of course, the United States called the allegation "baseless."�Secondly, Venezuela also has been at odds with Colombia over an agreement allowing the US to use seven Colombian military bases. Again, the US alleges that these bases are being used for anti-drug operations. President Chavez called the deal a "threat" to his country, but the US and Colombia say the agreement does not pertain to other nations. Understandably, President Chavez, who suffered an attempted coup in 2002, is sensitive to the point of being a bit paranoid, when it comes to national security. Remember when Pedro Carmona took control for just under 48 hours in 2002, one of the first nations to recognise the Carmona administration was the US. This only fuelled speculation that the American CIA was behind this bid to overthrow Chavez.
Harsh rhetoric
Predictably, Chavez has responded by harsh rhetoric, as well as boosting his military spending. Last week's Financial Times reported that Mr Chavez' arms purchases from the likes of Russia and China formed part of a big escalation in defence spending in Latin America, with regional weapons sales leaping from US$29 billion to US$39.6 billion between 2003 and 2008. Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State, said in September that Venezuela's military spending "outpace(s) all other countries in South America, and certainly raises questions as to whether there is going to be an arms race in the region."�The reality, however, is that Venezuela actually ranks fourth in terms of spending in the region, behind Brazil, Chile and Colombia.
What is of concern, however, is the speed of its increase in spending, as well as its choice of weaponry. The Financial Times article reports that Venezuela has greatly increased its deep-strike capacity. In fact, more than $5 billion has been committed to Russian merchandise, including 100 T-72 and T-90 main battle tanks, 24 Su-30MK2V fighter aircraft, nine Mi-17 transport helicopters, five Mi-35M attack helicopters and 100,000 AK-103 assault rifles. Of course, Trinidad and Tobago has traditionally aligned itself with the US, our biggest trading partner. One cannot help but notice the efforts of Venezuela to essentially undermine Trinidad and Tobago's and Caricom's position in the Caribbean region through the PetroCaribe and ALBA initiatives.
Today, members of PetroCaribe include: Venezuela, Dominica, Bahamas, Belize, Cuba, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, St Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Haiti, Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala. I suspect that PetroCaribe, in particular, is not in our economic or in our political interest. It is against that geopolitical background that I placed the two international meetings we hosted in 2009. Not that I am saying that this was the intention behind the government's bid to host these two meetings, but I wonder whether they may have (unintentionally) signalled to Venezuela that we are committed to playing a visible role on the international stage alongside those "imperialistic" nations they dislike.
Furthermore, it may be clearer to President Chavez that unlike some of our Caricom friends, we are not necessarily supportive of his regional ambitions.�On the other side of the fence is the United States. There has been greater discussion of whether the US has passed its peak and is now in decline. So much so, that some ask whether the first decade of this century will be viewed by future historians as the decade that marked the beginning of America's decline as a superpower. The last decade started with a disputed American election, and then we saw 9/11.
Military engagement
The last decade ended in a protracted military engagement on two fronts, economic struggles and the continuing rise of China. I wonder how our future historians would remember the positions we adopted and the role we played on the international stage? Time will tell. As always, I end by saying that despite our challenges, we are so blessed to live in this beautiful land.�Let us continue to have the audacity of hope in our country, as we move towards Vision 2020.