Monday, November 03, 2008

Obama and Chávez

Hugo Chávez says he is willing to meet Obama if he wins the election, which for Obama is dicey timing. Given the incessantly repeated "no preconditions" message from McCain, Obama's campaign issued a strongly worded statement in response:

Hugo Chavez does not govern democratically and relations between our countries will not improve unless Venezuela respects democracy and the rule of law. That is the clear message that Barack Obama will deliver to Venezuela as president.

I am not at all sure how an Obama administration would deal with Venezuela. However, these types of statements come up a lot, and always raise the same question--if democracy is the key precondition to good relations with the U.S., then how will we deal with China, Saudi Arabia, etc.? The answer, of course, is that democracy isn't the litmus test for anything.

2 comments:

Justin Delacour 12:18 AM  

these types of statements come up a lot, and always raise the same question--if democracy is the key precondition to good relations with the U.S., then how will we deal with China, Saudi Arabia, etc.? The answer, of course, is that democracy isn't the litmus test for anything.

Indeed, the litmus test here is that the Venezuelan government challenges the prerogatives of the foreign policy establishment. To questionably charge Chavez of anti-democratic behavior is a convenient form of subterfuge designed to appease the foreign policy establishment. Unfortunately, Obama is in no position to cross the foreign policy establishment and has little choice but to appease it.

It would have been wiser for Chavez to hold back on making that statement until later.

Justin Delacour 12:18 AM  
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