| Publication |
2007.
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| Summary/Abstract |
In the wake of deteriorating relations between the government of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and the administration of George W. Bush in the USA, Venezuela has sought to expand its influence into Commonwealth Caribbean countries by offering a loan scheme for oil payments. Caricom countries account for almost half the votes in the Organization of American states and the Latin American and Caribbean Group in UN bodies. President Chavez has called on the Caribbean to join a 'sea of resistance' against US imperialism as part of his programme of 21st century socialism and rejection of the US initiative for a Free Trade Area of the Americas. The USA had written to Caricom countries warning them against a relationship with Chavez and accusing him of threatening democracy. This article analyses the traditional relationship between Caricom and the USA, on the one hand, and the new relationship with Venezuela, on the other, and argues that the Caricom countries, small though they are, will act in their own interests
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