Earlier this month, the Guardian published a piece by Hugo Chavez in which he argued: “If the entire world adopts the energy-consumption patterns and lifestyles of the developed countries, we’re heading for disaster.” Coming from a leader whose ‘Bolivarian’ revolution is bankrolled by petrodollars this strikes me as a significant statement. Events in the Middle East have focussed attention away from the significance of Venezuela to the emergent energy geo-politics. The Chavez regime is more than happy to supply oil to its left wing Latin American allies at subsidised prices, and with no end of high oil prices in sight there is noreason why they won’t continue to do so. Chavez survived a CIA backed coup attempt in 2002 and is in the process of investing in Russian armaments to defend Venezuela against future military intervnetion from the US. As many commentators have pointed out whilst the Bush junta has been caught up in its failed war in Eurasia anti-hegemonic forces have been taking over the US’ backyard. As oil supplies become ever tighter and with the catastrophic loss of Middle Eastern supplies (whether Iranian or Saudi) a very real possibility there can be little doubt that practitioners of real politique in Washington will be looking for control of supplies closer to home. Under the rubric of the ‘war on terror’ US military aid is already committed to defending Columbian oil from left wing guerillas. It is easy to forget that US military presence in the ‘Centcom’ region of the Gulf states and central asaia involves incredibaly costly, long and vulnerable supply lines. Projection of force to control hydrocarbons in the Western hemisphere looks like a good deal by comparison. Whether Chavez can put his environmental rhetoric into action remians to be seen; that, for now, Venezuela is the central obstacle to US hegemony in the Western hemisphere is without doubt.

Drawbridge quarterly magazine