| Venezuela`s economy was traditionally based on the export of coffee and cocoa beans,nevertheless,after the discovery of oil deposits in its soil in 1914,the country started s smooth transition to from agricultural based economy to a oil producer.The economical transition occurred in Venezuela during the time when the United States exerted its exclusive influence over the Latin-American countries,and Venezuela of course was not an exception.As the time went on,the United States became the largest importation center of Venezuelan oil,along with several concessions to American oil companies such as “Exxon mobile “were conceded by Venezuelan governments..The concession made to foreign enterprises for the drain of Venezuelan oil,were characteristically of multinationals companies where the host country perceives fewer benefits,mostly due to neo-liberal legislation.But in 1998,Hugo Chavez was elected as President;a military formed person,with a difficult beginning in life,due to the economical scarcities of his family,he grow up as a victim of neo-liberal policies exerted in Venezuela.Chavez was influenced by socialist ideas and some left wing leaders such as the former Cuban President,Fidel Castro.A side from this domestic opposition,President Chavez,also found that the international environment,especially the continental one,was not appropriate and in some cases hostile,especially in the case of the United States,due to the fact that the new regulations and in general the legal frame forced the foreign enterprises to pay higher taxes,and transfer technology among some other means.The first term of President Chavez in the office,was characterized by some structural changes at the domestic level,especially in what refers to legislation framework;on the other hand,the traditional elites and now opposition remain in many important political posts,such as the board of the national oil enterprise,petroleum of Venezuela(PDVSA by its acronyms in Spanish),and the trade organization,along with many other economical and political positions.On the other side,the United States was govern at the time by President George Bush,who openly showed a dislike for the changes occurring in Venezuela,especially to the barriers that could have represented the for the commerce between those two countries due to the implementation of socialist means.The government of the United States,not only showed its dislike to Chavez`s government,but also actively supported opposition in Venezuela in their struggle for regaining the power of Venezuela.Many events,perpetrated by Venezuelan opposition,such as the civic-military coup,which deposed president Chavez from power in 2002 for 2 days.The strike on the oil industry in Venezuela,also convened by the domestic opposition and members of the board in PDVSA,action that caused as a consequence a high level of distress in Venezuela`s economy.Venezuela has became member of many international organizations with different purposes,and one of them is the Andean Community(CAN by its acronyms in Spanish),conformed by South-American countries,such as Colombia,Ecuador,Peru and Bolivia,unified by the will of achieving a common market.As is been said,the United States has traditionally exerted it influence over Latin-American countries,nevertheless,the U.S saw the declaiming of it influence materialized when its attempt to install a free trade area in the whole American Continent,and this proposal was rejected during the summit in 2005 of the summit of the Organization of American States.In that sense,the U.S began to individually negotiate with the countries the adoption of a free trade agreement.This proposal,found its supporters in Colombia and Peru,who finally agreed to concrete the adoption of a free trade area(individually)with the United States in 2006;this agreement didn’t enjoyed approval in Venezuela,particularly because the reduction of trade barriers among the members of CAN.Chavez complained in some of his speeches that the negotiation of this type of agreement should be paralyzed and deeply analyzed within the organization because in the end this agreement would create an effect in the rest of the members.On the other hand,a younger organization,also located in South-America called MERCOSUR,showed its economical power.Brazil,Argentina,Uruguay and Paraguay were the founding and only members of the organization,particularly because due to a the organization`s legislation no other country could be accepted as a member with full rights as the founder ones..In 2006,Venezuelan President,Hugo Chavez,announced that Venezuela will withdraw from CAN due to the signing of the free trade agreement of Colombia and Peru with the United States.Subsequently,Venezuela requested a spot as a full member of MERCOSUR.The main question to be answered in this thesis is,why did Venezuela shift its foreign policy through these two organizations? What factors could have been determinant for this change of policy? We will be only assessing a couple of them using Foreign policy to analyze the decision making in Venezuela.The schema theory,allows us to see how leaders can change their opinion regarding an issue due to a change is previous schemas.The theory also says that he person uses past events to fill the gap between the information given and the lacking pieces of information.This work will be divided in 4 chapters and conclusions in order to address the question.The chapter I,corresponds to the formulation of our hypothesis;a brief introduction of the background and a revision of the existing literature;In chapter II,firstly we will go through the President Chavez`s bibliography and we will define and contextualize what CAN and MERCOSUR are as organizations,what their purposes are,and what are the main differences and coincidences between the two of them.We will view also two important factors,the external environment in which the events were developed,and the second one refers to the domestic groups of interest that also through their actions created polarizations in Venezuelan society.Chapter Ⅲ,we will be addressing Venezuela from within,and both domestic and external factors that could have exerted their influence over President Chavez`s perception of the environment that surrounded his sphere of action.A redirection of foreign policy can have it roots in many elements,but one of the most forgotten ones,is the cognition and philology of the leader,especially due to his or her way to perceive stimulus.They way in which a person can perceive certain elements has a lot to do with the background of this persons,and personal experience lived in the past.Chapter Ⅳ,we will analyze the redirection on foreign policy and it possible causes.But before that,we will define the formulation of foreign policy in Venezuela;and finally we will go through the findings and implications of this work... |
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