Via the LAT: Chavez’s petro-diplomacy tour

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez heralded new economic and energy ties to Argentina on Tuesday as part of a renewed petro-diplomacy initiative highlighting his bid for regional leadership.

Opening a four-nation South American swing, Chavez signaled his oil-rich nation’s willingness to purchase up to $1 billion in Argentine bonds and help fund a $400-million gas plant designed to meet this country’s growing energy needs.

Venezuela’s oil-funded largess is expected to be on display during planned stops in Uruguay, Ecuador and Bolivia, all of which are expected to forge new energy deals with the government in Caracas.

Without a doubt this is a very smart way for Chávez to expand his influence in the region. However, the degree to which he can become some sort of regional hegemon is rather dubious, I should think. If anything, that is a role that Brazil aspires to obtain. Certainly the notion that Chávez will emerge as the leader of some sort of united Latin America can be seen as either his own pipe dream or the paranoid delusions of some in the United States. He does have the ability to supplant Castro as the leader of left-leaning anti-US politicians, and certainly he is forging important ties with lower-tiered economies with left-leaning leaders such as in Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua. Of course, depending on electoral tides in these locales, the closeness of the ties in each case may recede to some degree. Certainly the opposition in Argentina is uninterested in doing too much business with him.

In regards to Brazil, the story notes:

Some critics see a thwarted Chavez seeking allies in Iran and elsewhere as the regional leadership role falls to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who is currently on a swing through Mexico and Central America, cementing biofuel agreements and other deals.

“There’s a growing isolation of Chavez in South America and in the world context,” said Jorge Castro, a political analyst here. “That is linked to the parallel political and economic strengthening of Brazil.”

At a minimum, the situation demonstrated how an oil boom can help a clever politician establish a power base (both domestically and internationally). One of the key questions about Chávez is what happens if/when the oil windfall dries up.