BY SAMUEL RUBENFELD

The U.S. Treasury and State Departments each placed sanctions on Iranian attempts to evade sanctions.

Treasury identified Sambouk Shipping FZC as being connected with Dimitris Cambis, a Greek businessman who, along with a network of other front companies, was placed under sanctions in March for using Iranian money to buy oil tankers to help Tehran ship crude oil in violation of U.S. and European Union sanctions.

Cambis is using Sambouk, which Treasury said was “recently formed,” to manage eight of the vessels he operates on behalf of the National Iranian Tanker Co., Treasury said. The vessels have been used to perform ship-to ship transfers of Iranian crude in the Persian Gulf to help obscure the oil’s origin, facilitating deceptive sales, it said.

“As long as Iran tries to evade our sanctions, we will continue to expose their deceptive maneuvers,” said David Cohen, undersecretary of Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, in a statement.

Treasury ... Read More

BY TIM ROGERS

MANAGUA, NICARAGUA

Latin America’s least popular president finally has something to cheer about. Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla, whose approval ratings barely register in double digits, could receive an “Obama bounce” in the polls after the US president traveled to the capital city of San José and heralded her country as an exemplary leader for Central America.

In just his second visit to Central America and his first trip to Costa Rica, President Barack Obama this weekend called for new partnerships and increased integration with the region – especially in the areas of trade, innovation, and energy. Mr. Obama, who arrived in San José Friday afternoon to a rock star’s welcome of people lining the streets to cheer his motorcade, lauded Costa Rica for its historic commitments to democracy, peace, human rights, education and socio-economic development.

Costa Rican government officials and local pundits are proudly interpreting Obama’s visit as first-world recognition of their country’s new standing as an international ... Read More

Se ha terminado la elección presidencial en Venezuela? Al parecer no. El ganador auto proclamado, Nicolás Maduro, se comporta como alguien que sabe que perdió el 14 de abril – usando la violencia para acallar la demanda de la oposición para que se realice un recuento de los resultados.

Al recurrir a la violencia, el ignorante de Maduro ha firmado la sentencia de muerte para la legitimidad del chavismo.

En varios videos que le han dado la vuelta al mundo se puede apreciar a soldados y a chavistas matones persiguiendo, golpeando y disparando contra manifestantes desarmados el dia de las elecciones el mes pasado.  Anoche, archivos de video de la Asamblea Nacional de Venezuela mostraron como opositores eran golpeados mientras protestaban por una ley mordaza impuesta por el presidente de la asamblea Diosdado Cabello.

Los análisis post-electorales han demostrado que incluso muchos de los que apoyaron a Hugo Chávez se encuentran entre la ... Read More

A majority of Venezuelans has voted for change and now has no choice but to resist a regime that can hold on to power only with violence.

Is the election in Venezuela over? Apparently not. The self-declared winner, Nicolás Maduro, is behaving very much like a man who knows he lost on April 14. In resorting to violence and brute force to silence the opposition’s demand for an honest recount, Maduro has signed the death warrant for chavismo’s legitimacy.

Numerous videos of soldiers and other chavista thugs chasing, beating, and shooting unarmed protesters have circulated around the world since last month’s election. Last night, video from Venezuela’s national assembly showed opposition members being beaten as they protested a gag rule imposed by assembly president Diosdado Cabello.

Post-election analyses have shown that even many of those who supported caudillo Hugo Chávez were among a majority of Venezuelans who voted for change last month. And that majority now has no choice ... Read More

BY VINCENT BEVINS

SAO PAULO, Brazil — Shortly before Venezuela’s presidential election, former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva recorded a video supporting Nicolas Maduro, saying he had “stood out brilliantly in the struggle” for a more democratic Latin America.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who was endorsed by Lula in 2010, kept silent on the ultimately victorious candidacy of Maduro, the hand-chosen heir of the late leftist Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez.

The difference in demeanor between the two Brazilian presidents was not surprising to Rousseff watchers. Since assuming office at the start of 2011, she has taken a much more muted approach to foreign policy than Lula, avoiding the type of activism that often annoyed the United States.

Rousseff, 65, “has a more subtle style,” said Gregory Weeks, a professor of Latin American politics at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. “Even if they agree on most things, she considers this to be a more effective way of getting what she wants, ... Read More

BY PAUL SHINKMAN

At a conference earlier this month, top U.S. military officers identified what they thought would be the top threats to the U.S. as it draws down from protracted wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Gen. James Amos, commandant of the Marine Corps, was unequivocal about a largely unreported danger:

“Narco-terrorism just on our south border: [it is] yet to be seen just how that is going to play out in our own nation, but it is an issue and it is something that our nation is going to have to deal with.”

“Colombia is doing particularly well, but there is an insurgency growing,” Amos continued. “They have been fighting it, probably the greatest success story in this part of the world.”

The commandant’s remarks came a week before the April 14 election where Venezuelans chose a successor to the wildly popular and charismatic Hugo Chavez, who died March 5. Amos indicated the outcome of ... Read More

BY FRANK CALZON

The Obama Administration soon will be releasing its list of countries that support international terrorism. Currently on the list are: Iran, Sudan, Syria and Cuba. Cuba has been listed since 1982 but Reps. James P. McGovern, D-Mass., and Kathy Castor, D-Fl., propose to remove Cuba from the list. They argue that because Raúl Castro has taken control of the island from his brother Fidel, Cuba no longer poses a threat to the United States.

An article appearing in Sunday’s [April 21] Washington Post presents a less benign appraisal of Cuba’s intentions. The author, Jim Popkin, focuses on the career of a Pentagon intelligence analyst, Ana Montes, who for 17 years fed highly classified information about the U.S. military to the Cuban government, which the Castro brothers routinely shared with their anti-American allies. The unrepetant spy is serving a 25-year sentence in a U.S. penitentiary.

Nevertheless, some say Havana is still ... Read More

BY JAY SOLOMON

WASHINGTON—The Obama administration charged Hezbollah with operating like an international drug cartel and blacklisted two Lebanese money-exchange houses for allegedly moving tens of millions of dollars of drug profit through the U.S. financial system on behalf of the militant group.

The Treasury Department’s action Tuesday marked the latest salvo in a two-year U.S. government campaign against Hezbollah’s alleged drug-trafficking activities.

U.S. officials alleged that Hezbollah is using proceeds from this narcotics trade to fund international terrorist activities and to bolster the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in their fight against a widening political rebellion.

U.S. officials also said Hezbollah is increasingly reverting to illicit trade to offset diminished funding coming from Iran, the organization’s closest ally.

“Hezbollah is operating like a major drug cartel,” said Derek Maltz, a special agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration, who is overseeing the U.S. probe into Hezbollah. “These proceeds are funding violence against Americans.”

Bulgaria’s Interior ... Read More

BY RAY WALSER

There is good reason to believe that Nicolas Maduro is not the legitimate president of Venezuela. Nonetheless Maduro was sworn into office on April 19 as Hugo Chavez’s handpicked successor after winning a tight presidential contest days before.

In the April 14 election, Maduro claimed a narrow majority—235,000 votes out of 14.5 million votes cast—over opposition candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski. The opposition, however, promptly listed some 3,200 incidents of electoral rules violations that include intimidation at polling places, illegal campaigning, and non-functioning voting machines. The opposition has argued that these violations were sufficient to alter thousands of votes and tip the outcome in Maduro’s favor.

Furthermore, Maduro enjoyed massive, fundamentally unfair advantages in media access and votes obtained through patronage politics, while the opposition offered only a hope for change. The opposition demanded a 100 percent audit of all votes before conceding victory to Maduro. Its protests threatened Venezuela with violent clashes.

Domestic and international pressures forced the ... Read More

CARACAS, Venezuela — National Guard troops beat dozens of opposition supporters inside a barracks for refusing to accept the government-certified electoral victory of Hugo Chavez’s heir, a leading human rights lawyer charged Thursday in what he called Venezuela’s worst political repression in six years.

Alfredo Romero said his group’s lawyers also compiled evidence supporting opposition activists’ claims that National Guard troops had used excessive force against protesters, including shooting some point-blank with plastic shotgun pellets.

As details of the crackdown emerged, Nicolas Maduro prepared to be sworn in as president and the speaker of the National Assembly again threatened to bar the opposition from its only remaining political platform, the legislature, unless it recognized Maduro’s legitimacy.

Romero said the beatings occurred at National Guard barracks No. 47 in the western city of Barquisimeto after at least 300 protesters were arrested across Venezuela for backing opposition candidate Henrique Capriles’ demand for a recount of ... Read More

BY BRIAN ELLSWORTH & ENRIQUE ANDRES PRETEL

The bereavement of millions of Venezuelans at Hugo Chavez’s funeral last month appeared to signal that the political movement he led would remain strong long beyond the passing of its inspirational founder.

Just six weeks later, however, his anointed successor barely scraped out a presidential election victory over opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, who was roundly defeated by Chavez just over six months ago.

Nicolas Maduro’s narrow election win suggests that “Chavismo” – the political philosophy and disparate coalition built up by Chavez during 14 years in power – will struggle without him.

Maduro clearly does not have his charismatic predecessor’s command over the OPEC nation and may face challenges from rivals within the Chavista ranks.

“These results require deep self-criticism,” said Diosdado Cabello, the powerful head of the National Assembly, another close ally to Chavez whom many see as a potential rival to Maduro.

“Let’s turn over every stone ... Read More

A prediction by US intelligence chief James Clapper that chavista candidate Nicolas Maduro will likely win Sunday’s presidential election in Venezuela is so simplistic that it is misleading. “[W]ith a comfortable lead in the polls, Maduro is expected to win, and he will probably continue in [his late predecessor, Hugo] Chavez’s tradition,” Clapper said in the final paragraph of his written testimony before congressional intelligence committees on Thursday. With that sort of superficial analysis, it is no surprise that Washington has no influence over whether a hostile narcostate and best friend of Iran and Hezbollah holds on to power in Venezuela.

Here is what U.S. policymakers and Congress should know about the April 14 presidential election in Venezuela:

Chávez’s anointed successor will not secure an uncontested mandate over his democratic opponent, Henrique Capriles Radonski, and this contested election will trigger a period of instability and uncertainty for the ruling party. The chavista political machine will have to perform flawlessly to fabricate a numeric victory for ... Read More

GlobeCast has decided to stop the transmission of Iran’s Spanish-language Hispan TV on an SES satellite in line with the Western campaign against free speech.

“GlobeCast has received letter from SES dated March 29, 2013 requesting GlobeCast to cease transmission of all IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) channels on April 8, 2013, the latest,” the satellite provider, owned by France Telecom, said in a letter.

The letter added that the decision had been taken after the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in February added the IRIB and its president Ezzatollah Zarqami to the so-called “Specially Designed Nationals List” to whom “it is prohibited to provide any support, including any service.”

It noted that its “extensive discussions” between GlobeCast and SES had failed to produce any result.

In recent months, European satellite providers have launched a concerted campaign to silence Iran’s international broadcasters.

The campaign has revealed the true face of ... Read More

Por Roger Noriega y Felipe Trigos

A unas semanas de que se celebren las elecciones presidenciales en Venezuela, el panorama no podría ser mas complicado para el ungido de Chávez y sus titiriteros cubanos.

Las elecciones parecían estar decididas por la popularidad que dejaba atrás el comandante y su apoyo al delfín de Miraflores. Para sorpresa de un sector importante de chavistas, miembros de la oposición e indecisos, el pobre desempeño de Maduro ha expuesto a un candidato y a un presidente de facto incapaz de transmitir un mensaje coherente que empatice con el electorado. Así mismo, su ineptitud política no ha podido amalgamar las fracturas que existen dentro del chavismo y las fuerzas armadas.

La campaña de Maduro ha dejado ver algo verdaderamente grave para el pueblo venezolano: Los chavistas piden que se vote por la imagen de un muerto para que se consolide el proyecto cubano de conquistar Venezuela.

El delfín de ... Read More

BY NICK SIMEONE

WASHINGTON, March 20, 2013 – U.S. Southern Command’s top officer told Congress today that Iran is actively working to expand its presence in Latin America to cultivate allies at a time when Tehran is facing tough U.S and international sanctions for its alleged nuclear weapons program.

Marine Corps Gen. John F. Kelly told the House Armed Services Committee that Iran “has been very, very active over the last few years” in cultivating diplomatic and cultural ties to the region, especially by befriending Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who died earlier this month.

“They’ve opened embassies, they’ve opened cultural centers,” he testified, adding that on the surface, all of this appears to be normal.

“But to what end is obviously the issue,” he told the House panel.

Kelly told lawmakers he could discuss details about what the Iranian government’s goals might be only in a closed session. He mentioned Bolivia, Ecuador and Argentina as ... Read More

BY ANTONIO MARIA DELGADO

El presidente encargado Nicolás Maduro actuó como uno de los principales promotores de las operaciones de Hezbolá en Venezuela, manteniendo un contacto directo con uno de sus principales operativos que formaba parte de su cuerpo diplomático cuando se desempeñó como canciller desde agosto del 2006 hasta principios del 2013.

Fuentes de inteligencia dijeron a El Nuevo Herald que Ghazi Nasr al Din, señalado por el gobierno de Estados Unidos como uno de los más importantes representantes de Hezbolá en Venezuela, se mantenía en constante comunicación con el actual líder de la Revolución Bolivariana cuando se desempeñaba como agregado comercial del país sudamericano en Siria.

“Maduro es quien le da cubierta a Ghazi, que es la persona que controlaba todas las actividades de Hezbolá en Venezuela”, dijo una de las fuentes que habló bajo condición de anonimato.

Ese nombramiento le procuró a Ghazi la cubierta diplomática que necesitaba para moverse libremente ... Read More

BY ADAM KREDO

Iran has illegally laundered billions of dollars through the Venezuelan financial sector and is currently stashing “hundreds of millions” of dollars in “virtually every Venezuelan bank today,” according to a former senior State Department official.

“It’s a huge blind spot in those trying to implement sanctions” on Iran, Roger Noriega, a former United States ambassador and assistant secretary of state for western hemisphere affairs, told the Washington Free Beacon.

Venezuela served as Iran’s closest Western ally under the late President Hugo Chavez, who allowed the rogue regime to establish a military and financial presence at the highest levels of the Venezuelan government.

Iran’s foothold in the country is expected to grow exponentially under the rule of Chavez’s likely successor, Vice President Nicolas Maduro.

Noriega and other experts warned House lawmakers at a Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Wednesday that Iran’s terrorist proxy Hezbollah is gaining power in Venezuela.

Hezbollah, which carries out terrorist attacks on Iran’s behalf, has helped ... Read More

TESTIMONIO DEL EMBAJADOR ROGER F. NORIEGA

ANTE LA CAMARA DE REPRESENTANTES DE LOS ESTADOES UNIDOS

SUBCOMITE SOBRE TERRORISMO, ANTI-PROLIFERACION Y COMERCIO

COMITE DE ASUNTOS EXTERIORES

20 de marzo 2013, Washington D.C.

Señor presidente del subcomité, lo felicito a usted y a los demás miembros del subcomité por centrar su atención en la amenaza global que representa Hezbolá, y le doy las gracias  por haberme invitado a compartir mis puntos de vista sobre la creciente presencia de esta organización en las américas que ha introducido una amenaza a nuestro vecindario.

Este fin de semana pasado marcó el 21 aniversario del bombardeo en 1992 de la Embajada de Israel en Buenos Aires que terminó  con la vida de 29 personas. Dos años mas tarde, un coche bomba destruyó un centro judío en corazón de la capital argentina, acabando con la vida de ... Read More

TESTIMONY OF AMB. ROGER F. NORIEGA BEFORE THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS SUBCOMMITTEE ON TERRORISM, NON-PROLIFERATION AND TRADE

“Hezbollah’s Strategic Shift:  A Global Terrorist Threat”

1:30 PM, Wednesday, March 20, 2013

2172 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC

Mr. Chairman, I applaud you and other members of the Subcommittee for focusing attention on the global threat posed by the terrorist group Hezbollah and for inviting me to share my insights on that organization’s growing network in the Americas that carries this threat to our doorstep.

This past weekend marked the 21st anniversary of the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, which murdered 29 people and injured about 250 others.  Two years after that attack, the Jewish Community Center in Argentina’s capital city was leveled by another car bomb, leaving 85 persons murdered and hundreds more wounded.  Mr. Chairman, this is Hezbollah’s despicable legacy in the Americas.  And that ... Read More

TESTIMONY OF AMBASSADOR ROGER F. NORIEGA

BEFORE THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SUBCOMMITTEE ON TERRORISM, NON-PROLIFERATION AND TRADE

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS

March 20, 2013, Washington, DC

Mr. Chairman, I applaud you and other members of the Subcommittee for focusing attention on the global threat posed by Hezbollah, and I thank you for inviting me to share insights on that terrorist organization’s growing network in the Americas that carries this threat to our doorstep.

This past weekend marked the 21st anniversary of the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, which murdered 29 people.  Two years later, a car bomb leveled the Jewish Community Center in the heart of Argentina’s capital, leaving 85 persons murdered.

Mr. Chairman, this is Hezbollah’s despicable legacy in the Americas.  And that terrorist group – along with its sponsor, Iran – has returned to the scene of the crime.

During the last decade, Hezbollah has extended its reach quickly and ... Read More