Venezuelan Geopolitics in the Caribbean: Islas Aves 350 mi. from Ven.,90 mi. from Dominica

1. Venezuelan Geopolitics in the Caribbean: Islas Aves 350 mi. from Ven.,90 mi. from Dominica

2. La Geopolítica en el Caribe:Un Siglo de Cambios Presentación al Instituto de Estudios del Caribe Universidad de Puerto Rico Anthony P. Maingot 7 de octubre de 2010

4. A Basic Definition of Geopolitics The relationship between a nation’s geography and it’s projection on it’s neighbors and the international arena in terms of three elements of power: 1. Material wealth; 2. Capacity to project military force in the nation’s periphery and beyond; 3. The political will to intervene in world affairs, either through projecting ideology, economic capacity and/or soft power.

5. A Theoretical Point: Perceptions How these basic “facts” of geography and politics are interpreted will always vary with the dominant political (i.e., power) theories of influential “geopoliticians.” “The influence of geopolitical conditions upon human activities has depended…not merely on the realities as we now know them to be and to have been, but in even greater degree on what men imagined in regard to them….Each century has had its own geopolitical perspective.” (Sir Halford MacKinder, Democratic Ideals and Reality (1942), pp. 28-30. See also the theories of Alfred Thayer Mahan (1840-1940) on role of sea power.

6. Another Theoretical Point: Perceptions “The fact that certain people live for example, on an island has in itself no effect on their history; what has an effect is the way they conceive that insular position; whether for example they regard the sea as a barrier or as a highway to traffic. Had it been otherwise, their insular position, being a constant fact [being the “geopolitical bedrock” of politics], would have produced a constant effect on their historical life; whereas it will produce one effect if they have not mastered the art of navigation, a different effect if they have mastered it better than their neighbors, a third if they have mastered it worse than their neighbors, and a fourth if everyone uses aeroplanes.” “(R. G. Collingwood, The Idea of History (1946), p. 200).

7. A Geopolitical Reality of the Caribbean:Hegemony A system where the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must. Thucydides I asked Tom if countries always apologized when they had done wrong, and he says: “Yes, the little ones does.” Mark Twain Tom Sawyer Abroad (1894) “Great revolutions need great enemies.” – A deliberate strategy. Ché Guevara Classical geopolitical dilemma of the weak: When to kiss the hand you cannot bite? General metaphor expressing the rule of thumb in terms of small country preferences of alliances: It is better to stick with the Devil you know than with the Devil you do not know. Questions: (1) When and why do certain elites decide to challenge the “rule of thumb?” To challenge hegemonic dominance? (2) What does it take for elites to understand fundamental changes in hegemonic systems?

8. Geographical Impediments

9. The Geopolitics of the Spanish Colonial System Fundamental Geopolitical Debate: Henry of Susa (The Ostiensian Doctrine) – Papal dominance in all maters temporal and spiritual. Led to such dictates as “Papal Bulls” dividing the known world, viz. 1493 Inter Caetera, Treaty of Tordesillas (1494). Francisco de Vitoria (Lectures, 1539) – debated rights and wrongs of war and conquest, questioned right of Pope or Monarch to exercise jurisdiction over other princes, Christian or Infidel. Natural Law governed relations between sovereign “gentes”– jus gentium. Founder of the study of International Law. Another important Dominican - Bartolomé de las Casas Wealth of the New World made this debate purely theoretical. Ususpossedetisgoverned international relations. Major obstacles to hegemony: (1) a major geographical difficulty: viz., the Atlantic wind system; and (2) competition from the European maritime nations. Geopolitics became a matter of fortified harbors and attempts at securing routes for the convoys.

10. Defending the Spanish Empire: Continuity in the Geo-Strategy of Archipelagos “During the years when Hawkins was trading in the Caribbean, Menéndez de Avilés – captain-general, governor of Cuba and adelantado of Florida – was working out his reorganisation of the defence of the Carrera. His proposals included the provision of powerful escort for all trans-Atlantic fleets; a permanent naval patrol of the waters between the Azores and the Andalusian coast; the creation of armadillas – cruiser squadrons – permanently based in the West Indies to seek out and attack corsairs upon their arrival in the area, and to patrol the main trade routes all the year round; the fortification of all the principal harbours and the provision of regular garrisons. The most important harbours were Cartagena, guarding the eastern approach to the isthmus; Santo Domingo, the administrative capital of the islands and a considerable city; Santiago de Cuba; San Juan del Puerto Rico; and, strategically most important of all, Havana. Havana was to provide a safe place of assembly for homeward-bound convoys. To complete the defence and control of the Florida channel, another fortified base was to be constructed opposite Havana, on the coast of Florida.” (J. H. Parry, The Spanish Seaborne Empire (1966), p. 254).

11. The New Manifest Destiny:An American View of “Inferior Races”

12. A Case of Conjuncture in HistoryWhere Geography Helped Politics

15. The Churchill-Roosevelt Deal On September 2, 1940, as the Battle of Britain intensified, United States Secretary of State Cordell Hull signaled agreement to the transfer of the warships to the Royal Navy. In exchange, the US was granted land in various British possessions for the establishment of naval or air bases, in ninety-nine-year rent-free leases, on: Newfoundland (today part of the Canadian Province of Newfoundland and Labrador) Eastern side of the Bahamas Southern coast of Jamaica Western coast of St. Lucia West coast of Trinidad (Gulf of Paria) Antigua British Guiana (present day Guyana) within fifty miles of Georgetown. The agreement also stipulated Britain’s acceptance of the US proposal for air and naval bases rights in: The Great Sound and Castle Harbour, Bermuda South and eastern coasts of Newfoundland.

16. The Post-Cold War Period Closed US Bases 1. 1999 – All bases in the Panama Canal. Note: Howard Air Force Base: the largest in the Caribbean (4,000 acres). 2. 2003 – Vieques Naval Range 3. 2004 – Roosevelt Roads Naval Station - The largest naval base in the world. The Army, Marine and Special Forces bases transferred to Texas and Florida (Southern Command moved to Miami). 4. 2004 – President Chavez prohibits all US activities in or over Venezuela. • 2009 – Manta, Ecuador Air Base. Existing Bases – Soto Cano, Palmerola, Honduras; Guantanamo, Cuba. Forward Location Bases – (Cooperative Security Locations) Aruba, Curaçao Cooperative Arrangements – 1. Colombia (Air Force: Palanquero, Apiay; Naval: Barranquilla, Cartagena, Bahia Malaga). Congressional limit on US troops: 1,400 men (mostly contractors). 2. Brazil – Defense Cooperative Agreement (2010) establishing a Forward Location Base in Amazon.

17. Which Venezuelan leader wrote these words? “Venezuela’s socio-political process cannot be separated from what we find in all the other countries of Latin America. Our America has “entered into revolution,” to use [José Martí’s] words. From one extreme of the continent to the other one notes a swift tide of popular insurgency…. It will fall to Venezuela to play an important role in Latin America’s integration process.”

19. Transnational Politics and Soft Power Soft power emphasizes policies and diplomacy which engender admiration and attraction…. The world today is characterized by an information revolution. This has created “virtual communities and networks” that cut across national boundaries, they are transnational. “Politics,” says Nye, “become in part a competition for attractiveness, legitimacy and credibility.” Source: Joseph S. Nye, Jr. ‘Soft Power’: The means of Success in World Politics (New York: Public Affairs, 2004), p. 41. See also, Dominique Moisi, The Geopolitics of Emotion: How Cultures of Fear, Humiliation, and Hope are Reshaping the World (2009).

20. Conclusion: Greater Geopolitical Maneuverability for Cuba and Puerto Rico The modification of US hegemony has opened the door for Venezuela and Cuba to use soft power in a wide-ranging fashion, and Caribbean states to challenge US objections to certain initiatives such as, for instance, offshore banking and gambling. It has amplified Puerto Rico’s potential options. The sovereign determination of Caribbean governments to accept and respond to what are essentially anti-American initiatives such as ALBA, however, has limits. These limits are set by their peoples’ political cultures and social preferences as well as the ongoing realities of trade, investment, technology and certainly not to be ignored, race and ethnic identifications and preferences, including those of the diasporas.