The Everywhere Man

Oil money and an expansive ideology mean that Chávez’s influence knows no bounds.

By Katherine Yester

October 19, 2009, 9:52 PM

When Hugo Chávez travels, controversy rarely trails far behind. In recent years, the Venezuelan leader's peregrinations have come to resemble an anti-American road show. He makes it a point to visit countries on the outs with the United States -- Cuba, Iran, and Libya -- where he is feted as a brave and progressive statesman.

When Hugo Chávez travels, controversy rarely trails far behind. In recent years, the Venezuelan leader’s peregrinations have come to resemble an anti-American road show. He makes it a point to visit countries on the outs with the United States — Cuba, Iran, and Libya — where he is feted as a brave and progressive statesman.

But Chávez is peddling more than an anti-American tirade. His potent mix of ideology and oil money is increasingly leading him to meddle in the internal politics of his neighbors, much to the frustration of some Latin American leaders. "Chávez is orchestrating a campaign throughout Latin America to inject himself into the electoral processes of Bolivia, Colombia, Mexico, and Nicaragua," says former Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Castañeda.

A favored Chávez tactic is funding left-leaning civil society groups with political aspirations. In Nicaragua, he has stumped for Marxist Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega and offered him cheap oil. Chávez has supported Brazil’s Landless Workers Movement, which is pushing for dramatic land redistribution. The Venezuelan president has also been active in Bolivia, where he has funded the cocaleros, a powerful group of small-farm owners that opposes coca eradication efforts. Evo Morales, the Bolivian leftist leader, has even taken to calling Chávez "mi comandante."

Rumors of Chávez’s machinations are everywhere in Latin America — and Chávez seems content to see them spread. Ecuador’s El Comercio newspaper recently reported that members of an underground leftist movement there had received weapons training in Venezuela. In Mexico, there are published reports that the Venezuelan Embassy has become a hub for antigovernment activities. Venezuela, it appears, is not enough for Chávez.