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U.S.-Venezuela tensions rise

Hugo Chavez is a man with a mission. He is determined to use the enormous windfall from record oil prices to pursue his Bolivarian Revolution on the regional stage as aggressively as possible, says Michael Shifter, vice president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a think tank in Washington, D.C. "He is intent on building a counterweight to US influence in the Western Hemisphere."

"Chavez`s antiglobalization and anti-US discourse, which comes part and parcel with the petrodollars," adds Shifter, "is resonating more and more with marginal sectors throughout the region, many of whom have been ignored by the US and are now looking for alternatives to their stubbornly acute poverty."

Today, the US remains the top buyer of Venezuelan crude. Venezuela is still the third-largest foreign supplier of oil to the US, and owns CITGO, one of the largest refinery complexes and gas distribution networks in the US. But this could change. Chavez warned recently that the daily 1.5 million-barrel supply to US ports could be halted if US "aggressions" against his government continue. A week after Chavez made these comments, Venezuela announced plans to expand its fleet of oil tankers to diversify its client base and sell more crude to Asia and other faraway markets.

Reflecting perhaps the tension between Chá,vez and the US, religious broadcaster Pat Robertson suggested this week that the US "take out" Chavez to stop Venezuela from becoming a "launching pad for communist influence and Muslim extremism." Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld immediately distanced the administration from his comments, even as Chavez`s vice president described Mr. Robertson`s remarks as a "terrorist statement".