Improving U.S.-Cuban Ties Create Openings in Colombia and Venezuela

The second major issue is the U.S. attempt to influence the direction of Venezuela's deepening economic and political crisis. The United States kept tentative political links with Venezuela for years despite poor relations. Starting earlier this year, U.S. officials began a major diplomatic outreach to renew bilateral ties (Venezuela withdrew its ambassador to the United States in 2010) and potentially engineer a means to address Venezuela's looming crises. The former aim is less ambitious than the latter. Though ties with Caracas can improve quickly as a result of U.S. involvement, finding a solution to the endemic shortage of foreign currency hampering Venezuela's way out of severe recession is challenging. Caracas is largely cut off from foreign lending, and low oil prices, major domestic economic distortions, and high foreign debt obligations will likely drive it to the brink of default later this year. More…