AS VENEZUELANS continue to celebrate the life and times of Hugo Chavez, who died last Tuesday, governments across our region have been paying warm tributes to his meaningful “friendship” for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

Chavez, who never lost any known political battles of significance in his some 14 years as President of Venezuela, finally succumbed to the very punishing cancerous condition that had compelled his many visits to Cuba for treatment, while millions of loyal Venezuelan supporters prayed and kept hope alive for his recovery.
At 58, the very charismatic leftwing revolutionary had succeeded, during his first three-terms as President, in transforming the socio-economic landscape of Venezuela with heavy  financial allocations drawn from the oil revenue of a nation long recognised as a major producer of “black gold”.
His leadership is being recalled for its consistent, relentless pursuit of a foreign policy that increasingly won friends across Latin America and the Caribbean, while keeping Washington administrations and the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) at bay.
Chavez, who laid claim to being an ‘heir’ of the 19th Century ‘Independence Liberator’, Simón Bolívar, had also changed the country’s name to what’s now officially known as  the ‘Bolivarian Republic of  Venezuela’.
While anxious to have mutually constructive relations with the USA, the superpower that has traditionally dominated the economies of this hemisphere and bears a heavy burden for the poverty in which millions of Venezuelans existed, Chavez was methodically reaching out to build bridges of friendship with Latin American and Caribbean states.
Signposts of the  better known initiatives he pursued, even in the face of relentless interferences from US political, intelligence and corporate interests, would certainly include –for CARICOM partners — the ‘Petro-Caribe project’; the wider Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of the Americas (ALBA); as well as the more recently established Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) that pointedly excludes the USA and Canada.
For Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar of Trinidad and Tobago — CARICOM’s sole energy-based economy and exporter of natural gas to the USA — and President Donald Ramotar of Guyana, which is heavily dependent on imported fuel, Chavez was being hailed for his visionary initiatives at national reconstruction, as well for his ‘friendship’ demonstrated towards the Caribbean Community.
Secretary-General of the Community, Irwin LaRocque, in paying tribute to the late Venezuelan Head of State, declared, in an official statement:
“It is with deep sadness that the Caribbean Community has learnt of the passing of a true friend… President Chavez demonstrated solidarity with the governments and people of CARICOM throughout his tenure and created avenues for cooperation and strengthening relations with governments and improving the lives of the people…”

Obama’s say
In sharp contrast, a one-paragraph statement, released by The White House, quoted President Barack Obama as saying:
“At this challenging time, the US reaffirms its support for the Venezuelan people and its interest in developing a constructive relationship. As Venezuela begins a new chapter of its history, the USA remains committed to policies that promote democratic principles, the rule of law, and respect for human rights.”
It would seem that second-term President Obama is still to recover from being upstaged at the 2009 Summit of the Americas in Port-of-Spain, when he was surprised by a flamboyant Chavez’ move across the conference floor to present him with Eduardo Galeano’s  famous book, ‘Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent’.
Now, we await new constitutional arrangements for a successor President, and the road ahead for Venezuela without the visionary and committed friendship of Hugo Chavez in sustaining good relations with Latin America and the Caribbean.