President Bashar al-Assad traveled to Latin America to encourage investment at home while boosting Syria’s profile abroad.
A new Chinese financing plan provides $20 billion in loans for Venezuela. The series of accords signed includes plans for a joint venture for exploration in the oil-rich Orinoco belt and secures Venezuelan oil for energy-hungry China.
"As sovereign nations, Russia and Venezuela have every right to engage in bilateral diplomatic and commercial exchange," writes COA Vice President Eric Farnsworth, discussing Caracas' recent billion-dollar arms deal with Moscow. "But we should not be unaware or naïve; U.S. interests are being affected to the extent our regional friends and allies are negatively impacted."
After his first trip to Caracas, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin revealed that Venezuela plans to spend over $5 billion on Russian arms. The news triggered U.S. concerns about an Andean weapons buildup and arms transfers.
Shoppers flocked to stores over the weekend even as Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez warned companies against price increases. Caracas announced a devaluation of the bolivar in a move that sparked a rally on Venezuelan debt—as well as inflation worries.
"Of all the developments in Latin America over the past decade the consolidation of power in Venezuela by Hugo Chavez who was first elected in 1998 and the advancement of the 'Bolivarian Revolution' is clearly among the most significant," writes COA's Eric Farnsworth for The Huffington Post.
A Venezuelan cabinet member resigned in recent days after authorities arrested his brother in connection to a banking scandal. Caracas shuttered seven small banks in recent weeks.