Caracas, 3 de octubre de 2003 - Offnews.info
Caracas, 3 de octubre de 2003 - Offnews.info
Caracas, 3 de octubre de 2003 - Offnews.info
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28"It's a double-edged sword," he said. The race was "perceived as a contestbetween the United States and Venezuela."Alberto Garrido, an author and analyst in <strong>Caracas</strong> who has written severalbooks on Chavez, said the vote is a serious setback for Chavez's campaignto project Venezuelan influence beyond Latin America.Venezuela has bought foreign <strong>de</strong>bt from Argentina, sold cru<strong>de</strong> oil at cut-rateprices to smaller Caribbean islands and provi<strong>de</strong>d aid to Africa -- all efforts<strong>de</strong>signed, in part, to counter U.S. influence."This is a big setback in Chavez's strategy," said Garrido, whose latest book,"Chavez's Wars," <strong>de</strong>als with the presi<strong>de</strong>nt's conflicts with the Bushadministration and other foes. "He had a plan to become the institutionalizedvoice of the south, if he had gotten that seat. This is a blow, perhaps thebiggest blow in his geopolitical strategy."In Venezuela, the government's failure to secure a seat was called "anembarrassing <strong>de</strong>feat" by Manuel Rosales, who is running against Chavez inDecember's presi<strong>de</strong>ntial election. The presi<strong>de</strong>nt retains the support of amajority of Venezuelans, recent polls have shown, but opponents accuse himof ignoring spiraling crime, chronic unemployment and poverty while hefocuses on making a name for himself abroad.Chavez has spent much of his presi<strong>de</strong>ncy outsi<strong>de</strong> Venezuela. But since July,as the Security Council campaign has built, his travel schedule has becomefeverish, with trips to Russia, China, Vietnam, Iran and Belarus.The Venezuelan government's argument that it would be a voice for thosecountries suffering at the hands of U.S. imperialism did not strike a chordwith enough nations, said Milos Alcalay, a former Venezuelan ambassadorto the United Nations."To argue that Venezuela would go to the Security Council to be thecounterweight against imperialism didn't mesh with the philosophy that thisis a body that aims to find things in common," said Alcalay, who resignedhis post because of opposition to Chavez's policies.