Great news: Iranian influence in Latin America 'growing'
It's been nearly six years since the picture above was taken, and Adam Kredo reports that
it's only gotten worse.
Iran’s growing influence in the region—and its effort to exert
influence over governments there—has fostered pressing security concerns
as the Iranians inch closer to the United States’ southern border,
according to these U.S. officials and Latin American leaders, who met
for several days this week at a summit organized by the Israel Allies
Foundation (IAF).
“It is troubling in some of the briefings we get, particularly on the
classified side, to see Iranian influence in Latin America,” Rep. Ron
DeSantis (R., Fla.), a member of the House Committee of Foreign Affairs,
told the Washington Free Beacon in an interview. “A lot of these [Latin American officials] share the concern.”
“It’s a security risk for all of us,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis was one of several members of Congress and 20 Latin American
lawmakers from 14 different countries who met during the IAF summit,
which began on Sunday and ran until Tuesday morning.
Iran is becoming increasingly open about its presence in Latin
America and providing its officials with passports from Venezuela and
other countries, giving them free rein to travel throughout South
America.
Iran has forged close ties with countries such as Argentina, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Bolivia, among others.
Luis Heber, a member of the Uruguayan senate, said that Iranian
agents—who some suspect are members of the country’s Revolutionary Guard
Corps (IRGC)—have been spotted in his country holding Venezuelan
passports.
Officials have determined that there is “a clear penetration of Iran
in our country,” Heber said during remarks Sunday before U.S. lawmakers
and other Latin American officials.
“We’ve also seen Venezuelan passports in the hands of Iranians,” he
revealed. “The penetration of Venezuela by Iran is clear. There is
overwhelming information on this.”
...
“The threat level has increased, it’s more open,” said Rep. Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen (R., Fla.), vice-chair of the House’s Subcommittee on the
Western Hemisphere.
“The Iranian threat comes not from espionage as much, but from
influencing the ideology of their host country,” Ros-Lehtinen said.
“That’s what they’re aiming for and penetrating [these countries] so
they have a presence in Latin America right at the foothold of the U.S.”
Iran establishes consulates in these countries and then uses them as a
base to conduct espionage and other covert activities, Ros-Lehtinen
said.
“How is it they have Iranian consulates in Latin America?” she asked.
“It’s ridiculous to think all of sudden Latin Americans want to travel
to Iran. They’re not using it to issue their visas. Something is
happening that Iran is penetrating the Western Hemisphere and it’s not
for cultural exchanges or approval of travel docs.”
“This makes no sense … other than espionage, subterfuge, and illicit activities,” Ros-Lehtinen said.
This activity has intensified of late, several officials said.
This is what happens when the World's only superpower decides it doesn't want to be a superpower anymore.
Shabbat Shalom everyone.
Labels: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Iran, Iranian nuclear threat, Latin America, Peru, Venezuela
Wikileaks: Israel cooperated with Chile to monitor Iranian activity in South America
I know I've been devoting a lot of time to the Arab world today, especially to Libya, but I have to tell you that most of the Israel Radio news today has been about Libya. Let's go back to more normal fare for a minute.
A document released by Wikileaks reports that Israel
cooperated with Chile to monitor suspicious Iranian activity in Latin America.
Israeli Defense Attache to Chile Yoeli Or said, according to the cable "that he works with Chile's Investigative Police (PDI ) and 'other agencies' sharing information, and providing training when possible."
The cable said that "while there are no signs of GOI affiliation with terrorist groups in Chile, the Chilean intelligence service and the Israeli government are screening for anything they deem suspicious."
Or told US diplomats that Israel was worried about increasing Iranian presence in Venezuela, Columbia and Iranian influence on Chilean Muslim and Palestinian communities.
The Israeli diplomat stated that ideally "Israel would be doing more to expand trade ties with Latin America, in part to help balance Iran's expanding influence in the region." However, he said that a lack of resources prevented Israel from properly carrying out this plan.
The revelations in the cable come after a number of South American countries at the end of 2010 recognized a Palestinian state.
Brazil was the first of the Latin American countries to initiate the move and was soon followed by countries such as Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Bolivia.
I guess we're not likely to be cooperating with Chile any more.
Labels: Chile, Iran, Israel, Venezuela, Wikileaks
Great news: Hezbullah has a presence in Chile
A document released by Wikileaks reveals that the United States has believed since as far back as 2006 that
Hezbullah has a presence in Chile.
An unclassified embassy cable dated February 27, 2006, and released Tuesday by WikiLeaks, said a "radical fundamentalist presence" was centered in the northern city of Iquique, and to a lesser degree in Santiago.
"These fundamentalists who are known to be associated with Hizbullah are increasing their presence and activity in Chile," the cable said, adding the intelligence on them was insufficient to gauge their true intentions.
"There is substantial information that indicates that significant financial fund-raising for Hizbullah is taking place in northern Chile within the Muslim community," it said.
However, the cable went on to say that no hostile activity had been detected originating from either the Islamic Center in Santiago, nor from a Sunni mosque.
"The Hizbullah groups in the northern part of Chile are believed to be financial cells," it said.
Periodically, there also have been unsubstantiated reports of plans for a terrorist attack in the region, "but nothing definite," the cable said.
The cable, which took the form of a questionnaire on the security environment in Chile, provided no details of the alleged Hizbullah financing.
In another cable dated August 10, 2005, U.S. ambassador Craig Kelly asserted the fundamentalists based in Iquique were known to have connections with Islamic organizations in the so-called Tri-Border Area of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.
He said intelligence information indicated they help collect funds for Islamic charities and possibly other groups, according to the cable, which was made public by the Chilean Center for Journalistic Investigation and Information.
But the Obama administration has no Latin American policy other than shaking hands with Hugo Chavez and his friends.
What could go wrong?
Labels: Chile, Hezbullah, Hezbullah fundraising, Wikileaks
Throwing salt in the 'Palestinians' wounds
The 'Palestinians' awoke this morning to discover that Tzipi Livni, probably the most pro-'Palestinian' Jewish MK from a mainstream party in the current Knesset, has a program for them that's similar to Avigdor Lieberman's: She wants to
transfer them to a 'Palestinian state' in exchange for Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria remaining part of Israel. I suppose that if you're going to make a 'land swap' (a concept I oppose), it makes sense to improve your demography while you're doing it. It's amazing that the 'Palestinian street' didn't see this coming.
They also awoke to discover that Livni's close friend, then-US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, wanted to transfer some of the 'Palestinian diaspora' to
Latin America.
Condoleezza Rice, the Bush administration's secretary of state, wanted to settle displaced Palestinians in Argentina and Chile as an alternative to letting them return to former homes in Israel and the occupied territories. Rice made the proposal in a June 2008 meeting with US, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in Berlin, according to minutes of the encounter seen by the Guardian.
During a discussion about international funding to compensate refugees – an estimated 5 million Palestinians are scattered around the Middle East – the US diplomat made a startling suggestion.
"Maybe we will be able to find countries that can contribute in kind. Chile, Argentina, etc (ie, give land)."
The minutes, which are not verbatim, have the initials CR before the quote. Rice was the only participant with those initials.
The proposal seems based on the fact that Chile has a large Palestinian community dating back a century and, like Argentina, has large tracts of sparsely populated land.
It flew in the face of Palestinian insistence that the refugees have the right to return to their ancestral land – a demand Israel has resisted since its foundation in 1948. Carving out a new Palestinian homeland 8,000 miles away in the Andes could theoretically reduce pressure on Israel to return land.
Well, they have to go somewhere, and the Arab countries in which they currently live aren't willing to grant them citizenship, so why not Argentina and Chile? Oh wait - you mean they really believed they were coming back to their former villages that don't exist anymore in Israel? I guess that means they didn't see
this from the front page of Tuesday's JPost:
In a dramatic comment on the refugee issue, furthermore, at an internal meeting that PA President Mahmoud Abbas had with the Palestinian Negotiations Support Unit on March 29, 2008, Abbas said, “On numbers of refugees, it is illogical to ask Israel to take 5 million, or even 1 million – that would mean the end of Israel.
You just knew that the failure to educate their people for peace would come back to bite the 'Palestinians,' didn't you?
Labels: Argentina, Chile, Condoleeza Rice, Mahmoud Abbas, Negotiations Support Unit, Palileaks, Politics, Tzipi Livni, World Politics
Chilean recognition of 'Palestine' could have been much worse
Last week's Chilean recognition of the imaginary state of '
Palestine' could have been much worse according to Jewish communal leader Gabriel Zaliasnick, who does not regard last week's vote as a
total defeat.
When Brazil recognized Palestinian statehood in early December, Chile was ready to follow suit immediately, sources said. However, an important meeting between Chilean President Sebastian Pinera and former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar – who is a friend of Israel and happened to be visiting Chile at the time – combined with pressure from the local Jewish community and two late-night phone calls from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to Pinera, managed to postpone the planned proclamation.
“It was a miracle it took so long for the proclamation to come out,” Zaliasnik said.
“We decided to fight the core issues: No to any reference to final-status boundaries on the Green Line or 1967 borders; that Palestinians had to negotiate directly with Israel; and third, that any Chilean statement explicitly recognize the right of Israel to live in secure borders. That’s what we were fighting for.”
Dina Vann-Segal, of the American Jewish Committee’s Latino and Latin American Institute, agreed with Zaliasnik’s assessment that Israel had not “lost” Chile.
“It’s important to point out that once the process was unleashed, it was not a blanket deal,” she said in an email last Sunday. “Every country was different and their statements reflected their own local, regional and global dynamics. Chile acted responsibly given all the circumstances and pressures. Its statement is not that different from what the US’s position is, and both its government and the community should be given their due credit.”
The next battleground between pro-Israel and pro- Palestinian groups over Latin American recognition of Palestinian statehood will be in Lima, Peru, where the third Latin American-Arab summit will be held in February.
“I feel Colombia won’t recognize Palestinian statehood,” Zaliasnik opined. “I read the quotes of the Colombian foreign minister in Bogota on the issue. My feeling is that Mexico could feel like it has to follow us, but they don’t have a Palestinian lobby. Peru doesn’t have a Palestinian lobby either, but they are hosting an Arab League summit, so it may affect Peruvian President Alan Garcia. Of the three, Peru is the most vulnerable.”
Hmmmm.
By the way, if you
read the whole thing, you will learn a lot about the Jewish community in Chile.
Labels: Chile, Gabriel Zaliasnick, Palestine
And again: Latin American country 'recognizes' non-existent country
Yet another Latin American country has voted to recognize the non-existent country of 'Palestine.' This time,
it's Chile.
Chilean President Sebastián Piñera ratified his country's support for the establishment of a Palestinian state within the 1967 border, Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.
On Wednesday, Chile's parliament voted unanimously in favor of a resolution recognizing Palestine as an independent and sovereign country, joining Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Ecuador, which have already made similar declarations.
Maybe they're looking to get rid of
their 'Palestinians.'
Or maybe the 'Palestinian Lobby' in Chile has become all-powerful.
Or maybe
Jesus told them to vote that way.
Hmmm.
Labels: Chile, Palestinian state, unilateral declaration of statehood
