Venezuelan Foreign Policy

So Hugo Chávez is restricting Delta, Continental, and American, as retaliation for the U.S. government not changing its ruling that Venezuelan airplanes are unsafe (which was made several years before Chávez took office).

On both sides, it is policy based on spite. It may also be that Chávez is unwilling to actually cut the U.S. off from oil, so is taking some easier measure to annoy Mr. Danger. This particular move, though it could certainly hurt the airlines, seems mostly destined to hurt Venezuela. It’s hard to see a rousing call of support for measures that block Americans or Venezuelans with money from coming to the country. Ask Fidel—he hates the U.S. government, but loves U.S. cash.