Challenging Times for the Organization of American States

Despite the region’s evolving political landscape and the decline of the anti-U.S. bloc once led by Chávez, it will be difficult to muster meaningful collective action on Venezuela. Maduro’s diplomatic skills — which he has employed over the past few years to neutralize criticism from Colombia, sustain support in the Caribbean, and gain endorsements from Brazil — should not be underestimated. A number of energy-poor Caribbean nations such as Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines remain grateful to Caracas for its assistance with substantial subsidies when oil prices were high and they were in dire straits. Even the new, more conservative Argentine government of Mauricio Macri, which came to office last December with strong words against Venezuela, appears to be accommodating Maduro by toning down the rhetoric and joining the chorus for dialogue. Some speculate that Susana Malcorra, the Argentine foreign minister and a candidate to be the next U.N. secretary general, wants to be careful not to antagonize Venezuela. More…