Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s motives for sending massive amounts of humanitarian and development aid may be beyond charity, a policy expert has noted.
Chavez’s aid to the earthquake-stricken country may be tied to his interest in exporting his kind of 21st century socialism, said Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialouge, as quoted by UPI.com.
“His aid has a very strong political component,” Shifter said.
Venezuela was among the first to respond in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake in Jan. and the first to cancel the country’s foreign debt. Venezuela pledged USD2.4 billion dollars for Haiti’s reconstruction during a donors’ conference in March in New York. The amount is twice the aid promised by the U.S., UPI.com notes.
Prior to the earthquake, Venezuela built homes, health care clinics, electricity plants and open-air markets in Haiti. These projects pushed through while Venezuela was dealing with food shortages and inflation, UPI.com adds.
About the author
Ivy Mungcal
As former senior staff writer, Ivy Mungcal contributed to several Devex publications. Her focus is on breaking news, and in particular on global aid reform and trends in the United States, Europe, the Caribbean, and the Americas. Before joining Devex in 2009, Ivy produced specialized content for U.S. and U.K.-based business websites.
