ANOTHER 'CHANGE AND HOPE' EXPECTATION DOWN THE DRAIN

Howard LaFranchi notes that Obama’s ‘Let’s Talk, Not Fight’ proposals for Iran, Syria and North Korea have been a flop. Here’s how he flopped with Venezuela.

HAS OBAMA’S ‘LET’S TALK’ APPROACH WORKED WITH VENEZUELA?
One of Obama’s objectives entering the White House was to show that dialogue could be more effective than confrontations with U.S. adversaries

By Howard LaFranchi

Jewish World Review
December 28, 2011

WASHINGTON — When Barack Obama entered the White House in January 2009 on the heels of George W. Bush, one of his objectives was to demonstrate that engaging in a dialogue with America's adversaries could be more effective than confrontation in addressing such prickly foreign policy concerns as nuclear proliferation and authoritarian regimes.

Some three years later, the media salvos President Obama launched against Venezuelan strong man Hugo Chavez were a small but striking reminder that the "talking with the enemy" approach has had few successes.

President Chavez has rarely been at a loss for words in his 13-year rule over his oil-producing South American country, and he remained true to form this week after Obama told a Caracas newspaper that the US is "deeply concerned" about restrictions on personal freedoms and the erosion in the separation of powers in Venezuela.

"Leave us alone," Mr. Chavez shot back on state television. Calling Obama a "clown," the Latin leftist then advised the US president to "focus on governing your country, which you've turned into a disaster."

It was a sharp contrast from the days, early in the administration, when Venezuela was considered to be one of the easier adversaries to win over with dialogue. The two countries exchanged ambassadors again after having called them home at a breaking point in relations in 2008, and Obama and Chavez shook hands and smiled for cameras at a regional summit in 2009.

But the handshakes never transitioned to conversations, as each country accused the other of hegemonic actions in South America, and Chavez deepened his relations with other American antagonists including Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Chavez is up for reelection in October and Obama in November, but neither leader will look to the other for support.