New Winds in Washington

In the last two years, the government of President Barack Obama has managed to keep its politics in Latin America out of the headlines, concentrating all its energies on Iraq, Afghanistan and other hot places around the world. But all that is about to change.

In political circles in Washington, there is consensus that the new Congress, which has assumed responsibility following the Republican victory in the legislative elections in November 2010, will pressure Obama’s administration to assume a firmer posture regarding the authoritative regimes in Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Cuba.

The key parliamentary committees have changed hands and now are being led by political hawks who criticize Obama for supposedly being too soft with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his allies.

In an interview last week, the new chairwoman of the powerful Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Miami, told me that the subcommittees in Congress will be conducting meetings and investigations on topics such as the help that Chavez provides terrorist groups and the Venezuelan support to the secret program of nuclear arms in Iran.

“It will be good for congressional subcommittees to start talking about Chavez, about [Bolivian President Evo] Morales, about issues that have not been talked about,” Ros-Lehtinen said. “We are going to have a discussion about all of these issues.”

Ros-Lehtinen, who is planning a trip to Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Honduras in March, said that the subcommittee on Latin American issues will most likely hold hearings to determine if Venezuela should be included in the State Department’s list of “terrorist countries.” The new chairman of the subcommittee, Republican Congressman Connie Mack, also in Florida, supports the idea.

Ros-Lehtinen suggests that she does not support it for practical reasons. It is also probable that the chamber celebrates hearings so that they can examine if it is beneficial to impose economic sanctions on the Venezuelan oil monopoly, PDSVA, and the banks in Venezuela, she added. But won’t this give Chavez the right to argue and present himself as a victim of American “imperialism” I asked.

“The United States must have principles. It’s very nice to think that one can be friends of the entire world, but if we do that, we don’t have principles.” And she added that Chavez and his allies will blame the United States for whatever comes to mind anyway, independently of what Washington does.

Ros-Lehtinen will not be the only leader of a powerful committee in Congress that requires a firmer stance when dealing with Venezuela. The new Republican chairs of the Intelligence Committee and the Judiciary Committee will also apply pressure to investigate the links between Iran, Venezuela and terrorism, according to foreign affairs specialists.

“They will start asking questions, and they will make a difference,” said Roger Noriega, a conservative Republican who was director of Latin American matters for the State Department during the George W. Bush administration. “They will demand accountability from the administration, and that will bring about consequences.”

Obama’s party admits it is probable that the new Congress will influence the administration’s Latin America policy, but they advise that it will be a negative influence.

My opinion: I fear the precedent of extreme rhetoric from some sectors of the United States Congress with regard to Venezuela will play to Chavez and his allies. They will help the narcissistic president, the Leninist of Venezuela, present himself as a victim and blame Washington for the disastrous economy and political repression in his country.

The good news is that Ros-Lehtinen gave me the impression of speaking very highly — and moderately — since the designation to her new job, not only about Venezuela, but also about foreign aid and other Latin American topics. Also, the Senate, which continues to be controlled by the Democrats, will probably achieve the most extreme initiatives coming from the House.

Whatever happens, there will be more noise in Washington about such Latin Americans issues than we’ve heard in the last two years.