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United States–Venezuela relations are the bilateral relations between the United States of America and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Relations have traditionally been characterized by an important trade and investment relationship and cooperation in combating the production and transit of illegal drugs. Relations were strong under conservative governments in Venezuela like that of Rafael Caldera. However, tensions increased after the socialist President Hugo Chávez assumed elected office in 1999. Tensions between the countries increased after Venezuela accused the administration of George W. Bush of supporting the Venezuelan failed coup attempt in 2002 against Chavez. Venezuela broke off diplomatic relations with the U.S. in September 2008 in solidarity with Bolivia after a U.S. ambassador was accused of cooperating with violent anti-government groups in that country, though relations were reestablished under President Barack Obama in June 2009. In February 2014, the Venezuelan government ordered three American diplomats to leave the country on charges of promoting violence. Relations between the two countries have plunged to their worst level in years after the United States imposed economic sanctions against the Government of Venezuela due to abuses against protesters during the 2014–15 Venezuelan protests and allegations by the Venezuelan government that the United States was attempting to institute a coup. ==The Roosevelt Corollary and Dollar Diplomacy== The Venezuela Crisis of 1902–03 saw a naval blockade of several months imposed against Venezuela by Britain, Germany and Italy over President Cipriano Castro's refusal to pay foreign debts and damages suffered by European citizens in a recent Venezuelan civil war. Castro assumed that the United States' Monroe Doctrine would see the U.S. prevent European military intervention, but at the time the U.S. saw the Doctrine as concerning European seizure of territory, rather than intervention per se. Though U.S. Secretary of State Elihu Root characterized Castro as a ''"crazy brute"'' or a ''"monkey"'' , President Theodore Roosevelt was concerned with the prospects of penetration into the region by Germany. With Castro failing to back down under U.S. pressure and increasingly negative British and American press reactions to the affair, the blockading nations agreed to a compromise, but maintained the blockade during negotiations over the details. This incident was a major driver of the Roosevelt Corollary and the subsequent U.S. Big Stick policy and Dollar Diplomacy in Latin America. When American diplomat, Herbert Wolcott Bowen returned to Venezuela in January 1904 he noticed Venezuela seemed more peaceful and secure. Castro would reassure him that United States-Venezuela were at a high. However, after the Castro regime delayed fulfilling the agreements which ended the Venezuelan crisis of 1902–03, Bowen lost confidence. This would eventually lead to the Castro regime's economic policy angering this time the United States, France, and the Netherlands.〔 See p. 483.〕 This would play a crucial role in the Dutch–Venezuelan crisis of 1908. During the presidency of Venezuelan dictator Juan Vicente Gómez, in 1914, petroleum was discovered under Lake Maracaibo. Gómez managed to deflate Venezuela's staggering debt by granting concessions to foreign oil companies, which won him the support of the U.S. and European powers. The growth of the domestic oil industry strengthened the economic ties between the U.S. and Venezuela; however, it was established amid highly unequal power relations between the countries, with U.S. firms maintaining the upper hand. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「United States–Venezuela relations」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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