Venezuela

There’s a real sense the U.S.-Latin American relationship had been a bit distant and now has new possibilities. The one thing that could spoil that is the situation in Venezuela, so the administration is looking for ways to manage that.

There’s a lot of distrust among opposition voters on the fairness of the vote [in Venezuela], given the overwhelming presence of government in the media and the resources they can devote to campaigning, compared to the opposition. On the other hand, the government has to worry about abstention on its side because its level of popular support is quite low.

Three out of the last four [Summits of the Americas] were antagonistic, ALBA-driven. You'll notice though, whereas ALBA was able to get a lot of support from let's say the middle countries before, they didn't this time.