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 LAWRENCE J. HAAS

The death of Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez prompts two questions, the answers to which will have enormous implications not just for his country but for the United States, Latin America, and points far beyond.

First, will the government Chavez left behind conduct a fair election to replace him, which is supposed to occur within 30 days? Second, if the Venezuelan people get the opportunity of a fair election, will they choose wisely? The early signs don’t necessarily point to governmental acquiescence in a free and fair plebiscite.

Chavez’s heir apparent, Vice President Nicolas Maduro, has sought to rally public support by charging that the U.S. was somehow behind the cancer that claimed the boisterous petro-dictator at the age of 58. He also kicked two U.S. military attaches out of the country, alleging they sought to destabilize Venezuela.

Maduro’s outlandish charges smack of the kind of populist demagoguery that Chavez practiced ... Read More

Floating policy trial balloons is longstanding Washington custom. Not so common is when that balloon gets blasted out of the sky by the “senior official” leaker’s own administration. That’s what happened last week when the Boston Globe reported that, “High-level U.S. diplomats have concluded that Cuba should no longer be designated a state sponsor of terrorism.”

Yet the ink was barely dry on that report before both the White House and State Department utterly repudiated (here and here) any notion that Cuba would soon be de-listed as a state sponsor of terrorism.

As I have written in this space before, de-listing Cuba has been a long-sought goal of a die-hard cadre of critics of the United States’ Cuba policy. Why? Well, it seems that the Castro regime, which was born in terrorist violence, aided and abetted it across four continents over three decades, and whose training camps produced such international luminaries as Carlos the Jackal, is upset that it continues to ... Read More

BY SEN. MARCO RUBIO

During Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, President Barack Obama had an opportunity to engage in the debate about America’s role in the world. Unfortunately, he failed to do so.

He speaks eloquently of America’s role as a “beacon to all who seek freedom,” but stood idly by as protesters took to the streets in Iran, Syria, and elsewhere, pleading for American support, only to be rebuffed.

He seeks a world without nuclear weapons even as rogue regimes such as North Korea and Iran have advanced their nuclear programs on his watch.

The president talks of a “pivot” to Asia, while overseeing massive defense cuts that won’t leave us with naval assets to pivot with.

America’s free enterprise system has given us the means to protect our people and advance the goals of global liberty, prosperity, and safeguarding human rights. Unfortunately, our weak economy has not only made it difficult for people ... Read More

BY WILLIAM NEUMAN

CARACAS, Venezuela — When German customs agents at the Düsseldorf airport found a check for the equivalent of nearly $70 million in Venezuelan currency in the carry-on bag of a former Iranian economy minister last month, it seemed like the elements of an international thriller.

But an Iranian construction company contended on Tuesday that the reality was much more mundane: the money, it said, was meant to pay wages and buy concrete and other materials as part of a project to build 10,000 apartments in Venezuela.

“They’re buildings, not bombs, not missiles,” said a lawyer for the company, Kayson Venezuela, mocking speculation here that the company’s construction projects were a front for more sinister activities.

The lawyer, interviewed at the company’s offices in Caracas, refused to give his name, citing company policy.

The unusual courier was Tahmaseb Mazaheri, a former Iranian economy minister and Central Bank governor, according ... Read More

BY ISABEL KERSHNER

JERUSALEM — Israel strongly criticized Argentina on Tuesday, summoning its ambassador to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem to explain Argentina’s agreement with Iran to establish a joint commission to investigate the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, an attack for which Tehran is widely blamed.

The Foreign Ministry’s deputy director general for Latin America “conveyed Israel’s astonishment and disappointment at the Argentine government’s decision to collaborate with Iran,” according to a statement from the ministry.

It added that Israel had “protested the unacceptable attitude of the Argentine government toward Israel since the beginning of contacts between Buenos Aires and Tehran,” saying that Argentina had not responded to Israel’s requests to be kept informed of the diplomatic moves with Iran, nor of how Argentina envisaged bringing the perpetrators to justice.

Israel’s ambassador to Argentina was expected to request a meeting with Argentina’s foreign minister, Hector Timerman, in the coming days for clarification ... Read More

BY IAN DEITCH

Israel summoned the Argentinian ambassador on Tuesday in protest over an agreement between Iran and Argentina to jointly investigate the bombing 19 years ago of a Jewish center that killed 85 people in Buenos Aires and that was widely blamed on Tehran.

The terror attack was the deadliest on Argentinian soil, coming just two years after a bomb flattened the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 29 people.

Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said the Argentina-Iran agreement, which was struck on Sunday, “is like inviting a murderer to investigate the killings he committed.”

Argentine prosecutors have formally accused six Iranians of coordinating — under orders from their government — the July 18, 1994, bombing that demolished the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association building.

The center, a symbol for Argentina’s Jewish community, was destroyed and 85 people were killed and hundreds more wounded.

Argentine officials have claimed that Iran masterminded the attack while agents of ... Read More

BY MARC CAPUTO

A new conservative group, Americans for Strong Defense, has been formed to take on Chuck Hagel’s defense secretary nomination by President Obama.

While most of the attention against the former Republican Nebraska senator has centered on his positions regarding Israel and (to a lesser degree) gays in the military, Hagel’s stances on Cuba could get more attention. A prominent anti-Castro activist, Maurico Claver-Carone, sits on Americans for Strong Defense’s board and recently his Capitol Hill Cubans blog  featured an editorial bashing Hagel. Rep. Ileans Ros-Lehtinen has expressed concern with Hagel. Sen. Marco Rubio has as well.

Americans for a Strong Defense is running ads targeting senators in five states (Florida isn’t one of them). The ads, however, don’t mention Cuba and instead focus on the threats of Iran, North Korea and Russia.

Here’s the press release:

Americans for a Strong Defense will make the case to voters and elected officials that Senator Hagel ... Read More

In the past year the international community has taken unprecedented action to pressure the Iranian regime to abandon its nuclear ambitions. For example, the U.S. and European Union have adopted comprehensive new sanctions measures aimed at tightening the economic noose around the regime, while a number of other nations have finally taken steps to curtail Iranian oil imports – striking at the economic heart of the regime. These actions are having a tangible effect on Iran’s economy as evidenced most demonstrably by the crash of Iran’s currency, the rial, which has plummeting to historic lows in recent weeks.

Against this backdrop of increasingly effective and broad economic pressure, however, is a curious anomaly. Several countries in one region of the world are working to undermine international sanctions against Iran and some are even helping the Iranian regime engage in illegal activities such as money laundering and narco-terrorism. Surprisingly, these countries are ... Read More

Washington, DC—South Carolina Congressman Jeff Duncan achieved another major legislative victory on Wednesday evening after one of his bills, the Countering Iran in the Western Hemisphere Act (HR 3783), passed the United States Senate. The measure passed by unanimous consent with a technical amendment from Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. The Senate’s action sends the bill back to the US House for a final vote before going to the President for his signature.

“This is a common sense, pro-liberty bill. We’re not giving the government any more power. Part of the problem with this emerging threat is that many federal agencies aren’t on the same page. This bill assesses the problem, gets agencies to collaborate, and starts the process of developing a strategy to combat this threat,” Duncan said.

“We must be vigilant in protecting against new threats here at home,” said Duncan. “In the shadow of Iran’s growing nuclear ambitions, there’s a ... Read More

The Cuban foreign minister has reaffirmed Havana’s determination to support Tehran’s nuclear energy program and strengthen mutual cooperation to counter Western embargos.

At a meeting with Ali Asghar Khaji, the Iranian deputy foreign minister for Europe and Americas, in the Cuban capital city of Havana on Thursday, Bruno Eduardo Rodriguez Parrilla, hailed Iran-Cuba ties as “strategic” and voiced his country’s support for the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy program.

He expressed Havana’s preparedness to enhance bilateral ties with Tehran in high technology and exchange experience to counter the effects of the “plots and sanctions [imposed on both countries] by the common enemy.”

The Cuban foreign minister also praised the amiable relations between the two countries and expressed optimism that Cuban President Raul Castro will visit Iran next year.

Khaji, for his part, conveyed the greetings of the Iranian officials to the Cuban leaders and expressed Iran’s preparedness to participate in Cuba’s economic and ... Read More

Testimony of Ambassador Roger F. Noriega

Before the United States House of Representatives

Committee on Homeland Security

Subcommittee on Oversight

Friday, November 16th, 2012

Mr. Chairman, I applaud the Subcommittee for your continued efforts to study and expose the evolving threats to the U.S. homeland that are developing beyond our borders – including the menacing cooperation between narcotraffickers and the Islamic terrorist group Hezbollah in our hemisphere.

Mr. Chairman, there is a growing body of evidence that this narcoterrorist alliance in our neighborhood is aided and abetted by the governments of Venezuela and Iran – two regimes bound together by a relentless hostility against U.S. security and interests.

To put it bluntly, this is not just criminal activity – it is asymmetrical warfare.  How is it being waged?

 

Hezbollah conspires with drug-trafficking networks in Mexico and Central and South America as a means of raising funds, sharing tactics and “reaching ... Read More

Testimonio del Embajador Roger F. Noriega ante la Cámara de Representantes de los Estados Unidos

Comité de Seguridad Nacional

Subcomité de Supervisión

Señor Presidente del Comité, aplaudo los continuos esfuerzos del Subcomité por estudiar y exponer las amenazas al territorio de los EE.UU. que se desarrollan mas allá de nuestras fronteras y su constante evolución – incluyendo la preocupante cooperación entre el narcotráfico y el grupo terrorista Hezbollah en nuestro propio hemisferio.

Señor Presidente del Comité, hay un creciente cuerpo de evidencia que comprueba que la alianza narcoterrorista que se desarrolla en nuestro vecindario cuenta con la complicidad de los gobiernos de Irán y Venezuela – dos regímenes vinculados por su implacable hostilidad contra la seguridad y los intereses de los EE.UU.

Para decirlo sin rodeos, esto va mas allá de la actividad criminal – se trata de una guerra asimétrica. ¿Cómo se está librando?

Hezbollah conspira con las redes del narcotráfico en ... Read More

BY MIMI WHITEFIELD & TIM JOHNSON

MEXICO CITY – There’s agreement across the region that Latin America wasn’t a priority during the first term of President Barack Obama but analysts say there are issues that might raise the profile of Latin America and the Caribbean during the president’s second term.

Among them: trade, potential political change in the region, the potent voting bloc U.S. Hispanics have become, immigration, changing U.S. attitudes toward drug policy and security.

But, in general, regional expectations for meaningful change in U.S. Latin American and Caribbean policy during Obama’s second term were muted.

The campaigns of both Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney “proved that Latin America is not a priority for the United States,’’ said Simon Pachano, a political science professor at the Latin American Faculty for Social Sciences in Ecuador. “Latin America existed when they were looking for Hispanic votes, but it wasn’t present in their foreign policy proposals.”

Anthony ... Read More

BY ALEXANDER CUADROS

Venezuelans voting whether to re- elect Hugo Chavez on Oct. 7 will also decide the fate of a regime that forms the linchpin of an alliance from Iran to Cuba against U.S. policies.

Chavez has tapped the world’s largest oil reserves to provide about $7 billion annually in subsidized crude to Cuba and its Caribbean neighbors, more than three times what the U.S. spends in aid in the Western Hemisphere. He ended anti-drug cooperation with the U.S. in 2005 and signed more than 100 accords with Iran even as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government faces growing isolation over its nuclear program.

In the 58-year-old president’s tightest election yet, challenger Henrique Capriles Radonski has blasted his rival for “exporting revolution” while failing to address a surge in crime and 18 percent inflation. Without Chavez, countries such as Nicaragua and Bolivia would lose their “standard bearer,” said Cynthia Arnson, Latin America program director ... Read More

BY ERIC MARTIN & NATHAN GILL

QUITO, Ecuador — Ecuador President Rafael Correa is emerging from the shadow of Venezuelan mentor Hugo Chavez as his decision to grant asylum to WikiLeaks’ founder Julian Assange plunges relations with the U.S. to new lows.

While such a tactic may boost his chances of re-election in February, the political gain may spell economic loss for Ecuador, as harboring Assange sparks reprisals from the South American nation’s top trade partner, said Cynthia Arnson, Latin America program director at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Ecuador’s economy, about the size of Nebraska’s, benefited from $1.7 billion in duty-free exports to the United States last year under the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act. Protecting Assange, who published classified U.S. military cables over the internet, is the latest in a series of conflicts with the U.S., including ties with Iran, which top U.S. lawmakers say justify re-imposing ... Read More

BY CHANA YA’AR

Iran has established a Hizbullah terrorist training base in northern Nicaragua, according to a report by local media there. Operatives are being trained at the base to attack Israeli and U.S. targets in the event of a raid on Iranian nuclear installations, according to a report quoting the media, broadcast Thursday on Israeli radio.

Some 30 members of the Lebanon-based Hizbullah terrorist organization are allegedly stationed at the base, located near the border with Honduras. The base reportedly also serves as a central hub for weapons smugglers and money laundering by organized crime lords and drug cartels.

The area has been blocked off the local residents, and all supplies are reportedly being shipped in from Tehran.

Less than two weeks ago,  a group of 18 people was arraigned in a Managua courtroom after being accused of being involved in organized crime and moneylaundering. The group, posing as Mexican journalists, were detained while entering Nicaragua from Honduras following a tip-off ... Read More

After declaring that authorities had arrested four men in connection with trafficking uranium in La Paz, Bolivian authorities are backing off the claim that the material found inside nylon bags may be the alleged radioactive material.

Bolivian Government Minister Carlos Romero said late Tuesday that the Bolivian Institute of Nuclear Technology is conducting a study on the material to determine its composition.

“There is the possible existence of uranium in the screening solids, but it deserves research and scientific expertise,” Romero said, according to the Bolivian daily Los Tiempos.

Romero also tried to assuage fears of people in the neighborhood where the material was found – which includes a number of embassies – that there was no risk of a radioactive blast.

Police on Tuesday confiscated two tons of the alleged uranium that was being stored at a building in central La Paz located near the U.S. and Spanish embassies, said Bolivian Deputy Interior Minister ... Read More

BY REP. ALLEN WEST

As we enter into a campaign season wholeheartedly focused on our economic security, let us not forget our national security.

Right here, under our noses, a strategic alliance is being formed between Iran and Venezuela. More than 150 Iranian diplomats are accredited in Caracas — a disproportionate number by any count — demonstrating the Tehran regime’s unusual involvement in Latin America. Over the past few years, this honeymoon between Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has given birth to increased military involvement between the two countries, a complex financial web to bypass international sanctions against the ayatollahs and an operational infrastructure for carrying out terrorism against the nations of the free world, especially the United States and Israel.

This growing alliance between their respective military establishments allows Iran to extend its strategic coordination deep into the Western Hemisphere, enabling conventional, nuclear and terrorist capabilities well beyond Tehran’s geographic vicinity. It ... Read More

Washington, DC — La Congresista Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Presidenta del Comité de Relaciones Exteriores, comentó sobre el intento de Irán de destruir evidencia pertinente de su programa de armas nucleares cuando la Agencia Internacional de Energía Atómica (IAEA) trata de obtener acceso a la instalación.

Declaración de Ros-Lehtinen:

“Teherán una vez más revela sus verdaderas intenciones: obtener la capacidad de armas nucleares mientras ocultan la evidencia. La amenaza iraní continúa creciendo, y parece que no podemos negociar para que Irán detenga el programa ilícito.

Pero mientras que Teherán rehúsa cooperar con la agencia nuclear de la ONU, la ONU le ofrece legitimidad al régimen iraní con la presencia del Secretario General en la próxima Cumbre en Teherán del Movimiento de Naciones No Alineadas, y que el régimen está usando como una victoria propagandista. En vez de actuar para confrontar la creciente amenaza iraní a la seguridad internacional, la ONU es otra vez parte ... Read More