Abstract
Strengthened by increased revenues from the oil boom of the 2000s, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has pursued a much more extensive foreign policy than his predecessors, cultivating relations with numerous countries throughout Latin America and the world. Analysis of Chávez’s Latin American foreign policy reveals that he, like the petro-state decision-makers before him, has used petrodollars to fund large, long-term projects and agreements intended to further his goals of promoting a leftist agenda, minimizing foreign dependence, and increasing Venezuelan influence in the region. However as the oil boom ends, Chávez is likely to fall into a petro-state trap by overextending Venezuela’ s oil revenues, rendering him unable to sustain his capital-intensive projects. This paper will begin by analyzing Chávez’s regional foreign policy, its effectiveness in accomplishing his goals, and the implications that his policy has had throughout the region. In the context of the ending oil boom, this analysis can be used to predict the effects of the failure of Chávez’s foreign policy in Latin America. Analysis of Chávez’s foreign policy and his reac- tion to the decrease in the value of oil should serve as an example when analyzing the foreign policy decisions made by other petro-states.
Recommended Citation
Coates, Lucie
(2010)
"Petro-State Policy-Making and the Oil Curse: A Case Study of Hugo Chávez’s Latin American Foreign Policy throughout the Oil Boom and Bust of the 2000s,"
Proceedings of GREAT Day: Vol. 2009, Article 14.
Available at:
https://knightscholar.geneseo.edu/proceedings-of-great-day/vol2009/iss1/14