Will we let this chance slip away or learn to dance?

  CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil clasped hands here at a summit meeting late last month, as employees of Venezuela’s state oil company raised their fists and shouted Cuban-inspired socialist slogans before the cameras. It was an image of solidarity that might once have alarmed Washington, which has seen the United States’ standing steadily eroded by a shift toward left-leaning, populist leaders across the region in the last decade.

  But the carefully orchestrated event disguised a more recent turn in Latin America that presents new opportunities for the United States: Mr. da Silva has steadily peeled himself away from Venezuela’s leader and quietly supplanted him as he nurtures Brazil into a regional powerhouse. Today the two leaders, often partners but sometimes rivals, offer starkly different paths toward development, and it is Brazil’s milder and more pragmatic approach that appears ascendant. Amid the decline of American influence in the region, the Brazilian president is discreetly outflanking Mr. Chávez at almost every turn in the struggle for leadership in South America.

  Mr. Chávez has been nationalizing foreign companies and trying to assemble an anti-American bloc of nations. His regional credentials suffered last week, though, when his ideological rival, President Álvaro Uribe of Colombia, organized a dramatic rescue of 15 hostages held in the jungle by Colombian rebels.

  Mr. da Silva has diversified Brazil’s already strong industrial base and created an ample political coalition with almost a dozen neighbors. Huge recent oil discoveries in Brazilian waters have allowed him to blunt Venezuela’s efforts to use its oil largess to win influence. Venezuela’s economy has shown signs of stumbling, while its dependence on trade with Brazil has intensified. Link

   Easily the most optomistic article I've seen from the New York Times in years. Indeed, Chavez was trying to leverage those just released FARC hostages and discredit Uribe - going so far as threatening war with Columbia. He was recently denied his request to be appointed dictator for life by the Venezuelan people. Chavez is on the way out and he surely has enough graft stashed away to become yet another multi-billionaire in exile.

   Brazil presents a golden geopolitical opportunity for the United States not seen since since post-war Japan and if we nurture that relationship we will gain an ally at least as strong and beneficial. Currently, Congress refuses to lift the harsh tariffs on Brazilian ethanol derived from sugar cane - depriving all of us of vital fuel and displeasing the Brazilians greatly. That tariff is the direct result of actions by powerful Democrats from agricultural states - the same bunch who decided to subsidize the production of domestic biofuels to the detriment of world food supplies.

   You can rest assured that the Left and the Democrats will continue to antagonize Brazil, much as they have Columbia - they don't want Brazil to become another source of energy and the environmental extremists will fight tooth and nail to prevent Brazil from developing anything - oil, agriculture, mining and industry - anything. Their argument will center on the Amazon rain forest, global warming and 'human rights'. Like Columbia, they will demand Brazil cater to union organizers before participating in any joint cooperation.

   Brazil is set to become the next major battleground for the Left in its opposition to any growth or progress of humankind. The window to our ability to establish a solid and long-lasting relationship with Brazil will slam shut once China and Russia step in to provide assistance in tapping their newly found oil reserves - and that will be in a few years - not decades. Our stance - our national attitude towards South America - will make or break that deal. Brazil is a jewel of great value. We should treat it as such.

Think about that before pulling the lever for a Democrat the next time you vote.Spread the word! 

Comments

[ron, the gregarious hermit]

I'd like to think that rational people will someday run the Democratic Party. Right now I'm not optimistic. This is an imoprtant topic. Are you sure that Chavez is on his way out? Pelosi and Co. love the guy. If Obama wins in November, and the average Joe doesn't wake up as to why his gas and food prices are so high, all bets are off.