Venezuela: Background and U.S. Relations

Mark P. Sullivan
Specialist in Latin American Affairs

While historically the United States has had close relations with Venezuela, a major oil supplier, friction in bilateral relations rose over the past decade under the leftist populist government of President Hugo Chávez, who died in March 2013 after battling cancer for almost two years. First elected in 1998, Chávez had won reelection to another six-year term in October 2012, capturing about 55% of the vote compared to 44% for opposition candidate Henrique Capriles. After Chávez’s death, Venezuela held presidential elections in April 2013 in which acting President Nicolás Maduro, who had been serving as Chávez’s vice president, received 50.61% of the vote, compared to 49.12% for Capriles (a margin of 1.49%). In both of those presidential elections, the incumbent candidate benefited from the use of state resources and media for his campaign. The opposition filed challenges to the 2013 election results that were ultimately rejected by Venezuela’s Supreme Court. Venezuela’s upcoming municipal elections, scheduled for December 8. 2013, will be an important test of strength for the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD). The Maduro government faces significant challenges, including deteriorating economic conditions and high rates of crime and violence. 

U.S. Policy 

In recent years, U.S. policy makers and Members of Congress have been concerned about the deterioration of human rights and democratic conditions in Venezuela as well as the Venezuelan government’s lack of bilateral cooperation on anti-drug and counterterrorism efforts and its relations with Iran. In September 2013, President Obama issued the ninth annual determination that Venezuela had “failed demonstrably” to meet its international counternarcotics obligations. The State Department maintains that individual members of the Chávez government and security forces were credibly reported to have engaged in or facilitated drug trafficking activities. The United States has imposed financial sanctions on eight current or former Venezuelan officials for allegedly helping the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia with drug and weapons trafficking. The United States has also imposed sanctions on three Venezuelan companies for support to Iran and on several Venezuelan individuals for providing support to Hezbollah. Despite these tensions, the Obama Administration has maintained that the United States remains committed to seeking constructive engagement with Venezuela. In June 2013, after a meeting with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elías Jaua in Guatemala, Secretary of State John Kerry expressed hope that the two countries could move quickly to the appointment of ambassadors, and said that the two countries had agreed to continue high-level dialogue. Efforts to engage with Venezuela, however, have been complicated by the Maduro government’s strong rhetoric and actions, including the offer of asylum to Edward Snowden, accused of leaking U.S. classified information. 

Legislative Initiatives 

Over the past decade, developments in Venezuela and U.S. relations with the country have largely been oversight issues for Congress, with various hearings held and resolutions approved or introduced in each chamber. Congress has also appropriated funding over the years for democracy-related projects in Venezuela through the annual foreign aid appropriations measure. To date in the 113th Congress, two legislative initiatives have been introduced related to Venezuela: S.Res. 213 would express support for the free and peaceful exercise of representative democracy in Venezuela and condemn violence and intimidation against the country’s political opposition; and H.R. 1687 would, among other provisions, provide for the imposition of visa and financial sanctions against certain listed officials of four governments belonging to the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA)—Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. Congress also faces consideration of the FY2014 foreign aid appropriations measure (H.R. 2855, S. 1372); the Administration’s request includes $5 million to support civil society efforts to build and protect democratic freedoms and protect human rights in Venezuela.

This report, which will be updated periodically, analyzes the political and economic situation in Venezuela and the country’s foreign policy orientation. It then examines U.S. relations and policy toward Venezuela and several key issues that have been at the forefront of congressional interest: democracy and human rights; energy, including U.S.-Venezuelan energy linkages; drug trafficking; and terrorism issues, including Venezuela’s relations with Iran. An appendix provides links to selected executive branch reports on Venezuela.

For additional information see CRS Report RS21049, Latin America: Terrorism Issues, which examines Iran’s relations with Latin America.


Date of Report: September 16, 2013
Number of Pages: 39
Order Number: R43239
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Hearing on "A Closer Look at Cuba and its Recent History of Proliferation"

Mary Beth Nikitin
Specialist in Nonproliferation

ChairmanSalmon, Ranking MemberSires, distinguished members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the recent incident of proliferation from Cuba and the U.N. Sanctions Committee’s response.

The interdiction by Panama on July 10 of the North Korean freighter Chong Chon Gangrevealed ahidden shipment of military goods, ranging from fighter planesto ammunitionthat was on its way to North Korea, according to press reportsand the Cuban government. While we await official reports of what investigators found on the ship, the Cuban government issued a statement on July 16 saying that the weapons being transported on the ship were “two anti-aircraft missiles complexes Volga and Pechora, nine missilesin parts and spares, two MiG21bisand 15 motors for this type of airplane.” According to other reports, the ship was also carrying far more material, including artillery ammunition, light weapons ammunition such as rocket-propelled grenades, and other military items. The ship’stwo previous stopswere Puerto Padre and Havana, Cuba. It is not yet clear whether Cuba had sent the latest weapons shipment to North Korea as a sale, for repair as it claims, or a combination of the two. The sugar which hid the weapons on the Chong Chon Gangmay have been part of a barter arrangement, but it is also possible that payment was made in some other way.


Date of Report: September 26, 2013
Number of Pages: 3
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Latin America and the Caribbean: Key Issues for the 113th Congress

Mark P. Sullivan, Coordinator
Specialist in Latin American Affairs

Geographic proximity has ensured strong linkages between the United States and the Latin American and Caribbean region, with diverse U.S. interests, including economic, political, and security concerns. U.S. policy toward the region under the Obama Administration has focused on four priorities: promoting economic and social opportunity; ensuring citizen security; strengthening effective democratic institutions; and securing a clean energy future. There has been substantial continuity in U.S. policy toward the region under the Obama Administration, which has pursued some of the same basic policy approaches as the Bush Administration. Nevertheless, the Obama Administration has made several significant policy changes, including an overall emphasis on partnership and shared responsibility.

U.S. policy toward the region is conducted in the context of a Latin America that is becoming increasingly independent from the United States. Strong economic growth has increased Latin America’s confidence in its ability to solve its own problems. The region has also diversified its economic and diplomatic ties with countries outside the region. Over the past few years, several Latin American regional organizations have been established that do not include the United States.

Congress plays an active role in policy toward Latin America and the Caribbean. In recent years, legislative and oversight attention have focused on the continued increase in drug traffickingrelated violence in Mexico and assistance under the Mérida Initiative; efforts to help Central American and Caribbean countries contend with drug trafficking and violent crime; and continued counternarcotics and security support to Colombia. The 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti continues to focus attention on the enormous task of disaster recovery and reconstruction. Another area of congressional oversight has been the deterioration of democracy and media freedom in several Latin American countries, especially Venezuela. Congressional concern also has focused on Iran’s activities and relations in the region and about the activities of Hezbollah. U.S. sanctions on Cuba, particularly restrictions on travel, remain a contentious issue in the debate over how to support change in one of the world’s last remaining communist nations. Other broad issues of congressional interest are relations with Mexico and the status of reforms under the new administration of President Enrique Peña Nieto; prospects for Colombia’s peace negotiations and the potential ramifications for U.S. policy; the status of democracy in Venezuela and U.S.-Venezuelan relations in the post-Chávez era; progress on negotiations for the Trans- Pacific Partnership (TPP) that includes three Latin American countries (Chile, Mexico, and Peru); and the operation and activities of the Organization of American States (OAS).

In terms of legislative action to date in the 113th Congress, the Senate approved a resolution on Haiti’s 2010 earthquake (S.Res. 12) in March 2013; comprehensive immigration reform legislation (S. 744) in June; and a measure to reform the OAS (S. 793) in July. The House approved a measure (H.R. 1613) in June that would provide for implementation of the U.S.- Mexico Trans-boundary Hydrocarbons Agreement. Both houses also approved different versions of an omnibus farm bill (S. 954 in June and H.R. 2642 in July) with cotton provisions related to a trade dispute with Brazil against U.S. cotton subsidies; the House version also addresses an ongoing U.S.-Mexico water dispute. In July, the Appropriations Committees in both houses reported their respective versions of the FY2014 State Department and Foreign Operations appropriations measure (H.R. 2855 and S. 1372), each with numerous provisions on U.S. foreign aid to Latin America and the Caribbean. The Appropriations Committees in each house also reported out their versions of the FY2014 Financial Services and General Government appropriations measure in July (H.R. 2786 and S. 1371), with different provisions on U.S. travel policy for Cuba.

This report, which will be updated about twice yearly, provides an overview of U.S. policy toward Latin America and the Caribbean, including the Obama Administration’s priorities; examines changes in the region’s economic and political environment that affect U.S. relations with the region; and analyzes U.S. policy toward the region and various recommendations made by policy analysts and think tanks. The report then examines the role of Congress and congressional interests in Latin America, looking at selected regional and country issues, including key issues that the 113th Congress is facing. Appendices provide U.S.-Latin America trade statistics and a listing of hearings focused on Latin America.

For additional information and access to over 30 CRS reports on the region, see the CRS Issues in Focus webpage on “Latin America and the Caribbean.”

Date of Report: August 9, 2013
Number of Pages: 38
Order Number: R42956
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Mexico’s Peña Nieto Administration: Priorities and Key Issues in U.S.-Mexican Relations

Clare Ribando Seelke
Specialist in Latin American Affairs

Congress has maintained significant interest in neighboring Mexico, a close ally and top trade

partner that shares a nearly 2,000-mile border with the United States. On December 1, 2012, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) retook the Mexican presidency after 12 years in opposition, leaving analysts wondering how differently PRI President Enrique Peña Nieto will govern than his PRI predecessors, who ruled Mexico from 1929 to 2000. Supporters maintain that Peña Nieto heads a “new PRI” government that is free from the corruption that characterized the party in the past and is enacting bold reforms that proved elusive for the last two National Action Party (PAN) administrations. Skeptics question how Peña Nieto will remain independent from old-time PRI power brokers and how he will challenge PRI interest groups resistant to change.

President Peña Nieto has announced a reformist agenda with specific proposals under five pillars: reducing violence; combating poverty; boosting growth; reforming education; and fostering social responsibility. He signed a “Pact for Mexico” with the leaders of the PAN and leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) that has paved the way for the enactment of education and telecommunications reforms. The Peña Nieto government has just introduced an energy reform proposal that would allow Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) to form profit-sharing partnerships  with private companies. Fiscal reforms to increase tax revenues are to follow. Both proposals could test the Pact’s ability to prevent legislative gridlock.

U.S.-Mexican relations are evolving. During his May 2013 visit to Mexico, President Obama embraced President Peña Nieto’s desire to bolster economic ties and focus on new issues, including education. U.S.-Mexican security cooperation has continued; future efforts may increasingly focus on crime prevention and judicial reform. Bilateral cooperation may have contributed to the July capture of the leader of Los Zetas. However, there has been friction caused by limits Mexico has placed on U.S. involvement in law enforcement and intelligence operations and the recent release of a drug kingpin imprisoned in Mexico for killing a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent. If implemented, the Trans-boundary Hydrocarbons  Agreement signed in February 2012 on managing oil resources in the Gulf of Mexico could  create opportunities for energy cooperation. The Peña Nieto government has supported efforts to enact comprehensive immigration reform in the United States, but urged U.S. policymakers not to militarize the U.S.-Mexico border.

Key Policy Issues: This year, immigration and border security have been at the center of the congressional agenda. The Senate passed S. 744, a comprehensive immigration reform bill that includes additional funding for border security, legalization for certain unauthorized immigrants, and changes to the temporary and permanent immigration systems. In contrast, House committees have taken up a series of discrete immigration measures (H.R. 1417, H.R. 1772, H.R. 2131, H.R. 1773, and H.R. 2278). The House passed legislation, H.R. 1613, which would provide for implementation of the U.S.-Mexico Trans-boundary Hydrocarbons Agreement. The Senate has  yet to consider related legislation on the agreement (S. 812). U.S.-Mexican energy cooperation and the prospects for reforming PEMEX have generated congressional interest. Congress is also examining how Mexico’s participation in the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations may impact U.S.-Mexico economic relations under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Language included in the House-passed version of the FY2013 farm bill, H.R. 2642,

addresses an ongoing U.S.-Mexico water dispute.

Date of Report: August 15, 2013
Number of Pages: 30
Order Number: R42917
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