The 2008 Presidential Election: The View From Venezuela

Abstract

The 2008 US presidential election presented an important opportunity for change in contentious US-Venezuela relations. Neither ofthe US presidential candidates seemed to offer a complete redefinition of bilateral relations; Barack Obama’s position on many ofthe issues of importance to Venezuela meant that his presidency brings hope for a more conciliatory relationship between Venezuela and the United States. Although this relationship is likely to be more amicable than a John McCain presidency would have been, signals from both countries have been mixed, and there is no certainty on the direction of future relations between the two countries. This chapter provides an analysis ofthe key factors that may define this relationship during the Obama administration.

The author would like to thank Tessa Matsuzaki and Raul Pacheco-Vega for their support and assistance with this chapter. A special thanks is also extended to the Instituto de Estudios Superiores de Administration (IESA), which provided research support while the author was a visiting Research Fellow at Caracas, Venezuela in 2005–2008. Gerardo Gonzalez, Universidad Central de Venezuela, contributed valuable research and insight into this article.