MEXICO CITY -- The United Stateshas created yet another paradox on international relations in Latin America by slapping sanctions on Venezuela while seeking rapprochement with Cuba, a long-time foe it has punished for over 50 years with embargo.
In announcing the third set of sanctions against the Venezuelan government in four months, U.S. President Barack Obamadeclared a national emergency and signed an executive order imposing additional sanctions against several current and former Venezuelan officials over alleged human rights abuses and corruption.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was irate in his preliminary reaction Monday, saying that Obama had taken "the most aggressive" step yet against Venezuela and labeled it as a "desperate" effort by Washington to oust his socialist government.
Fortunately, Maduro turned reasonable and sober Friday by asking for a dialogue with Washington, while requesting Latin American and Caribbean organizations to protect Venezuela against any "escalation" of the unwanted situation.
As strategic stakeholders of this chase-and-catch game, a bunch of Latin American nations stood up in tandem to the shoulder of Venezuela and even mocked the conflicting model of the U.S. diplomacy.
Bolivian President Evo Morales elaborated the stand on Friday, "If Obama doesn't want to meet with any resistance at the Summit of the Americas, then he should apologize to Latin America, especially to Venezuela."
The U.S. government should avoid implementing the sanction policy that had proven failed in other cases and only led to hostility between peoples and their governments, said a declaration published by the Argentine government on Thursday.
With two years left in the White Houseand roadblocks in domestic reforms, Obama is looking for a political legacy and trying to win credits for the Democratic Party in the next election, by restoring relations with Cuba and rebuilding its influence in Latin America.
However, Cuba rallied behind Venezuela at this very moment, offering "unconditional support".
Retired Cuban leader Fidel Castro congratulated Maduro's Monday speech on his "brilliant and brave" stance against the United States in a letter published Tuesday by the Cuban press.
An official statement published in the island nation's state-run media despised the sanctions as "arbitrary and aggressive."
Also on Tuesday, Ecuador's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it "rejects any external or internal attempts to destabilize the democratic order and calls on the international community, and the U. S. in particular, to respect Venezuela's sovereignty."
As Venezuela and its regional partners tuned into each other to shout out wise answers and garb a justified position, the table has been turned on Washington, who itself left some hot potatoes on its hand.
If the witch hunt in the eyes of the Latin countries is prolonged, the United States is bound to strike a chord disharmonious at the summit of the Organization of American States (OAS), which it views as a manageable platform to tame the nations and guarantee the safety of its "backyard."
In case that the sanctions were withdrawn or partly evoked to make most participants happy in Panama, where OAS will be held in April, Washington would become excruciated over self-denial, and torn or awkward to pick up its face right in front of its presumed friends.
Whatever the scenario will possible be, more and more Latin American leaders are shouting out the same stance as Morales to remind Washington that the era of U.S. dominance over the region has come to an end, and "the tutoring from above is over" as was the colonial epoch.
