BY GIRISH GUPTA

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela’s new president, Nicolás Maduro, echoes his former boss in a continued tough stance toward the “imperialist” United States. But he is not getting the same reception that Hugo Chávez did.

Maduro’s government recently arrested a U.S. filmmaker doing a documentary on the recent elections on charges of “spying” for the United States. On state television, he called President Obama the “chief of devils” for suggesting Venezuela’s elections may not have been fair.

Some Latin American neighbors are not playing along.

Peruvian Foreign Minister Rafael Roncagliolo called on the Union of South American Nations, of which his country is acting president, to issue a statement urging Maduro to exercise tolerance.

Former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe says he is taking Maduro to the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights over “immature” accusations that Uribe plotted to assassinate Maduro.

“As the facts behind Nicolás Maduro’s fabricated electoral ‘victory’ on April 14 are disclosed, his ... Read More

POR ROGER NORIEGA Y FELIPE TRIGOS

Las elecciones celebradas el pasado domingo en Venezuela demostraron lo que ya se esperaba: Un gobierno incapaz de adoptar la democracia como forma de gobierno y decidido a convertir a Venezuela en un régimen totalitario.

Comentaristas y analistas políticos han comparado la elección de Mexico en el 2006 con la del pasado domingo en Venezuela. La diferencia entre México y Venezuela en términos de solidez institucional, separación de poderes y respeto a la libertad de prensa es abismal. México, a diferencia de Venezuela, no es una autocracia y no está gobernada por la influencia directa de otro país (Cuba).

México ha ido consolidado su democracia desde el 2000 con la victoria de Vicente Fox del partido Acción Nacional (PAN) al derrotar al Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), que había gobernado México por más de setenta años.

En el caso de Venezuela, desde 1999 a la fecha, la tendencia ha ... Read More

Nicolas Maduro, the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s handpicked successor, was announced as the winner to succeed Chavez Monday in a controversial election allegedly decided by just 235,000 ballots.

“I am the son of Chavez,” Maduro said after being declared President-elect one month after Chavez’s death. “I am the ... Read More

By Hugo Pérez Hernáiz & David Smilde

Since the day of Hugo Chávez’s death, acting president and presidential candidate Nicolás Maduro and other top government officials have put forward a steady flow of conspiracy theories unmatched by any period in the Chávez era, eight by our count.

March 5, acting President Maduro expels two US attachés for “searching for active military personal in order to propose conspiratorial plans to them.”

March 5, Maduro, in the last public announcement before the passing of the President, suggests that Chávez was “inoculated” with cancer by foreign enemies (See our previous post on the issue). He afterwards insisted many times on this theory, originally proposed by Chávez himself, the latest on March 21. On that day he promised that after winning the elections, he would name a scientific commission in charge of investigating the issue. He also mentioned that “there are already a lot of articles on the internet on ... Read More

La retórica electoral en Venezuela no ha cambiado el mensaje absurdo promovido por parte del candidato oficialista Nicolás Maduro. Su desesperación y la del partido oficialista han llevado a Maduro a hacer declaraciones irresponsables que solo demuestran el miedo que tienen de perder su narco estado.

Hace casi un mes, Nicolás Maduro me acusó en cadena nacional de estar planeando el asesinato del candidato de oposición Henrique Capriles Radonski. Esta acusación ya daba indicios de la preocupación oficialista de perder el poder.

El pasado domingo, Maduro volvió a acusarme de planear otro asesinato. Esta vez en su contra.

Niego estas acusaciones y reitero lo que dije entonces. “Los cubanos siempre acusan a alguien más de lo que quieren hacer.”

Mi visión y esperanza para Estados Unidos y el pueblo venezolano siempre ha sido la misma: Un país prospero, democrático, transparente, libre de narcotráfico, violencia y terrorismo.

Esta visión se contrapone con los planes Cubano-Maduristas: ellos ... Read More

BY CHRISTOPHER TOOTHAKER

CARACAS, Venezuela — Salvadoran mercenaries are plotting with Venezuela’s opposition candidate to assassinate interim President Nicolas Maduro. But wait, the plot thickens. Central American agents, along with former U.S. diplomats, are also plotting to kill the opposition candidate, Henrique Capriles.

Those are just two of the conspiracy theories that Maduro has put forth ahead of Sunday’s election to replace Hugo Chavez. Maduro, who is running as Chavez’s hand-picked successor, also says the government has launched an investigation to determine if someone — U.S. agents, he has hinted — inoculated Chavez with the cancer that killed him March 5.

Opposition leaders called the allegation laughable, but government officials insist it’s no joke. Such conspiracy theories don’t seem all that wild to some Latin Americans who resent decades of U.S. meddling in their affairs. In Venezuela, relations with the U.S. deteriorated after Washington briefly endorsed a coup that toppled Chavez for two ... Read More

Por Roger Noriega y Felipe Trigos

En un video recientemente publicado en las redes sociales, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, ex presidente de Brasil, expresa su apoyo al candidato de La Habana para la presidencia de Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro.

La injerencia pública del ex presidente Lula en medio de un proceso electoral en un país que no es el suyo es preocupante y al mismo tiempo inconsistente con los valores que el ex presidente dice resguardar.

En 2003, Lula recibió la banda presidencial democráticamente por parte del ex presidente Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Su elección como presidente se llevó

a cabo respetando la ley y la Constitución. Lula hizo lo mismo 8 años después con Dilma Rousseff en un proceso transparente tal y como el suyo.

Más de dos años después de haber dejado la presidencia, la supuesta visión democrática de Lula parece haber cambiado radicalmente. Su apoyo a Nicolás Maduro, quien ilegalmente se autoproclamó vicepresidente y luego ... Read More

Por Roger Noriega y Felipe Trigos

A unas semanas de que se celebren las elecciones presidenciales en Venezuela, el panorama no podría ser mas complicado para el ungido de Chávez y sus titiriteros cubanos.

Las elecciones parecían estar decididas por la popularidad que dejaba atrás el comandante y su apoyo al delfín de Miraflores. Para sorpresa de un sector importante de chavistas, miembros de la oposición e indecisos, el pobre desempeño de Maduro ha expuesto a un candidato y a un presidente de facto incapaz de transmitir un mensaje coherente que empatice con el electorado. Así mismo, su ineptitud política no ha podido amalgamar las fracturas que existen dentro del chavismo y las fuerzas armadas.

La campaña de Maduro ha dejado ver algo verdaderamente grave para el pueblo venezolano: Los chavistas piden que se vote por la imagen de un muerto para que se consolide el proyecto cubano de conquistar Venezuela.

El delfín de ... Read More

BY ANTONIO MARIA DELGADO

El presidente encargado Nicolás Maduro actuó como uno de los principales promotores de las operaciones de Hezbolá en Venezuela, manteniendo un contacto directo con uno de sus principales operativos que formaba parte de su cuerpo diplomático cuando se desempeñó como canciller desde agosto del 2006 hasta principios del 2013.

Fuentes de inteligencia dijeron a El Nuevo Herald que Ghazi Nasr al Din, señalado por el gobierno de Estados Unidos como uno de los más importantes representantes de Hezbolá en Venezuela, se mantenía en constante comunicación con el actual líder de la Revolución Bolivariana cuando se desempeñaba como agregado comercial del país sudamericano en Siria.

“Maduro es quien le da cubierta a Ghazi, que es la persona que controlaba todas las actividades de Hezbolá en Venezuela”, dijo una de las fuentes que habló bajo condición de anonimato.

Ese nombramiento le procuró a Ghazi la cubierta diplomática que necesitaba para moverse libremente ... Read More

BY ADAM KREDO

Iran has illegally laundered billions of dollars through the Venezuelan financial sector and is currently stashing “hundreds of millions” of dollars in “virtually every Venezuelan bank today,” according to a former senior State Department official.

“It’s a huge blind spot in those trying to implement sanctions” on Iran, Roger Noriega, a former United States ambassador and assistant secretary of state for western hemisphere affairs, told the Washington Free Beacon.

Venezuela served as Iran’s closest Western ally under the late President Hugo Chavez, who allowed the rogue regime to establish a military and financial presence at the highest levels of the Venezuelan government.

Iran’s foothold in the country is expected to grow exponentially under the rule of Chavez’s likely successor, Vice President Nicolas Maduro.

Noriega and other experts warned House lawmakers at a Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Wednesday that Iran’s terrorist proxy Hezbollah is gaining power in Venezuela.

Hezbollah, which carries out terrorist attacks on Iran’s behalf, has helped ... Read More

Foreign Minister Elias Jaua said the move was a response to “interventionist statements” by US Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson, who called for “open, fair and transparent” elections on April 14.

“This channel of communication is suspended at this time, deferred until there is a clear message on what type of relationship the United States wants with Venezuela,” Jaua said. “It makes no sense to continue wasting time,” he added.

Venezuela’s acting president Nicolas Maduro is running against opposition leader Henrique Capriles, who lost to Chavez in October elections. Capriles will likely also face an uphill battle against Maduro.

Chavez, who dominated Venezuela during his fourteen years of power, died of cancer on March 5 after a long illness that unsettled the political landscape.

Maduro said in January that he had had contacts with Washington in late 2012 through the Venezuelan ambassador at the Organization of American States, which he said were authorized ... Read More

Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade | 2172 House Rayburn Office Building Washington, DC 20515 | Mar 20, 2013 1:30pm

Chairman Poe on the hearing: “(Tomorrow) the TNT Subcommittee will bring together experts to discuss the evolution of Hezbollah. Hezbollah has historically been a terrorist organization whose activity has been isolated in the Middle East. Hezbollah is the puppet of Iran worldwide. Under the guidance of the Iranian regime, this jihadist group has expanded its reach and shifted its strategy to operate in virtually every corner of the world including Latin America and Europe. I look forward to hearing testimony about the relationship between Hezbollah and the Iranian regime,  how this threat has grown in recent years, and what implications this dangerous alliance has for U.S. national security.”

Witnesses

Mr. Will Fulton Iran Analyst, Critical Threats Project American Enterprise Institute

Matthew Levitt, Ph.D. Director Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence The Washington Institute for Near East Policy

... Read More

BY RAY WALSER

Two weeks after the death of President Hugo Chavez from cancer, Venezuela’s interim chief and Chavista presidential candidate Nicolas Maduro is increasingly resorting to wild, paranoid, anti-American outbursts in an effort to convince Venezuelans he has the machismo needed to fill El Commandante’s boots.

Following initial claims that the U.S. or others had killed Chavez, Maduro followed up on March 13 by saying he intends to form a scientific commission to review the facts of the 58-year-old leader’s death. “We have the intuition that our commander Chavez was poisoned by dark forces that wanted him out of the way,” Maduro told an audience on March 12. Such a commission, however, will have to collect its evidence from a corpse that was inadequately preserved and may be too decomposed for the embalming Maduro had initially promised.

The war of words between Maduro and opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles also continues to heat up. Maduro and company want to undercut Capriles by making Venezuelans believe that Capriles enjoys official ... Read More

By Howard LaFranchi

The elaborate public funeral Venezuela will hold for President Hugo Chávez Friday will take place with already troubled US-Venezuela relations at a new low point.

The sour relations have US officials downbeat about prospects for a turnaround between the two countries anytime soon. Beyond that, the onset of a turbulent presidential election campaign that is likely to feature the US as an enemy of the deceased leader’s vision for Latin America will also feed Latin America’s deep divides, analysts say – and could complicate prospects for US relations with the region.

Political heirs of the fiery and anti-US leader made it clear in the hours following the announcement Tuesday of his passing that the forces of “chavismo,” Mr. Chávez’s brand of populist socialism, intend to stoke the flames of anti-American sentiment as a means of rallying Venezuelans left distraught and confused by the president’s demise.

Chávez’s hand-picked heir apparent, Vice President ... Read More

BY BRYAN BENDER

WASHINGTON — High-level US diplomats have concluded that Cuba should no longer be designated a state sponsor of terrorism, raising the prospect that Secretary of State John F. Kerry could remove a major obstacle to restoring relations with the Cold War-era foe, government officials said.

Cuba no longer actively supports terrorist groups such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC, or former members of Spain’s Basque Fatherland and Liberty, also known as the ETA, according to State Department findings.

And interviews with a series of top administration officials and members of Congress indicate there is a growing consensus in policy and intelligence circles that Cuba’s support for terrorist groups has been terminated and the country should be removed from the list — much like the George W. Bush administration did with North Korea in 2008.

Kerry has met in recent days with officials to review the Cuba ... Read More

POR ROGER F. NORIEGA Y JOSE R. CARDENAS

Mientras el congreso estadounidense lucha para superar la crisis económica y hacer frente a amenazas contra la seguridad de los Estados Unidos, Latinoamérica se está transformando de manera significativa y resulta imperante fortalecer la cooperación económica y en materia de seguridad con nuestros aliados en la región. Países como México y Brasil se están convirtiendo en actores globales que merecen nuestra atención y cooperación bipartidista para promover una agenda regional que fomente el crecimiento del libre mercado, iniciativas practicas – no retoricas – que animen a países y vecinos a unirse a un esfuerzo colectivo de mutuo beneficio.

Los puntos clave de esta Perspectiva:

Tanto la crisis económica estadounidense como las amenazas a su seguridad han socavado su papel tradicional como líder mundial, debilitando sus vínculos con las naciones de América Latina que siguen modernizando sus economías. Estados Unidos debe recuperar su credibilidad regional adoptando iniciativas audaces ... Read More

BY MICHAEL BRUSH

Is this the year we finally say hasta la vista to the five-decade-old Cuban trade embargo?

Tom Herzfeld, a Miami-area fund manager who studies Cuba-U.S. relations, thinks so. This is an unconventional view. But stranger things have happened in the past few years, like the Arab Spring. Besides, it’s often the unexpected that provides the best returns in investing.

And here, the investment implications could be big, for several companies.

Herzfeld thinks the policy change would boost companies as diverse as cruise line operator Carnival(CCL +0.70%, news), cargo shipper Seaboard  (SEB -0.12%, news), regional airline Copa (CPA -1.77%,news), soft-drink distributor Coca-Cola Femsa (KOF +0.39%, news) and even Watsco (WSO +0.85%, news), which likely would sell more air conditioners in Cuba.

These stocks are all big holdings in the Herzfeld Caribbean Basin (CUBA -0.12%, news) fund, which Herzfeld says he has positioned to benefit from embargo elimination.

“Now, more than ever, the pieces are falling into place where the embargo could be lifted this year,” maintains Herzfeld.

Why now?

Herzfeld cites President Barack Obama’s ... Read More

Even as Venezuela plunges into a constitutional crisis over Hugo Chávez’s missed inauguration yesterday, State Department officials evidently think its still an ideal time to continue pressing for a normalization of diplomatic relations with the Venezuelan government, whoever that may be.

Ever since my colleague, former Assistant Secretary of State Roger Noriega, disclosed last month (and at Foreign Policy here) that high-ranking department officials had begun discrete talks about exchanging ambassadors with Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro and Venezuelan Organization of American States Ambassador Roy Chaderton in November, department officials have begun to speak openly (here and here) about the effort and have shown no indication that recent events in Venezuela have dampened their enthusiasm.

Indeed, they have even doubled down on it and are now presenting their overtures as a way to get ahead of the post-Chávez curve, given the increasing likelihood that the firebrand populist will never return to power. That way, in the words of the Washington ... Read More

More than a decade’s worth of Hugo Chavez gutting his country’s democratic institutions and centralizing power in his person has led to the present turmoil in Venezuela, where just who is the country’s constitutional leader is no longer clear. According to the Venezuelan constitution, Jan. 10 was the day Mr. Chavez was to be sworn in for his fourth presidential following his re-election last October. However, he remains sequestered somewhere in a Cuban hospital recovering from reportedly his fourth cancer surgery and hasn’t been seen or heard from since Dec. 8.

Again, according to the Venezuelan constitution, if the president-elect is unable to take the oath of office by Jan. 10, then power is to be transferred to the next-in-line in succession, the president of the National Assembly, currently former military man Diosdado Cabello. Yet, this week, the Chavez-packed Supreme Court decided that his swearing-in could be postponed “indefinitely,” meaning that ... Read More

Bloomberg’s Susan Li speaks to Roger Noriega, former U.S. ambassador at the Organization of American States, about Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan President’s, health

Read More