Iran’s hand in Latin America not as US feared

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Agence France-Presse

Iran’s hand in Latin America not as US feared (AFP)

14 July 2009 WASHINGTON - The United States may have overestimated Iran’s influence in Latin America, described for months as worrisome by Obama administration officials, lawmakers and experts, the State Department said.

The agency’s spokesman Ian Kelly had to refute his own boss, Hillary Clinton, after The Washington Post revealed Iran was not building a major beachhead in Nicaragua, despite the US diplomatic chief’s assertions otherwise.

“The Iranians are building a huge embassy in Managua,” Secretary of State Clinton said in May. “And you can only imagine what that’s for,” she added, calling the effort “quite disturbing.” But on Monday, Kelly recognized that “right now, there is no major Iranian presence in Nicaragua.”

Not only does the worksite not exist, but Iran’s promised investment in the impoverished Central American nation, declared during heavily publicized meetings between Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Nicaraguan counterpart Daniel Ortega, also never materialized.

One US diplomat in Managua went so far as to tell the Post that “there is no huge Iranian Embassy being built, as far as we can tell.”



Read more: http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2009/July/middleeast_July309.xml§ion=middleeast&col=

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Also, at this link:
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=200907140523dowjonesdjonline000113&title=irans-hand-in-latin-america-not-as-us-feared

[Judi Lynn]

1. If you haven't seen the push in corporate media to sell this idea, here's an example:

Ahmadinejad finds it warmer in Latin America
Hugo Chavez and company are giving the Iranian president an entree into the U.S. sphere of influence.
By Daniel P. Erikson
October 3, 2007

If Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was displeased by the hostile reception he got during his trip to a United Nations summit in New York last week, the next stage of his journey surely lifted his spirits. He hopped on a plane to Caracas, where he was warmly greeted by Hugo Chavez. The Venezuelan president praised Ahmadinejad's performance at Columbia University, telling him: "An imperial spokesman tried to disrespect you, calling you a cruel little tyrant. You responded with the greatness of a revolutionary."

Ahmadinejad went on to Bolivia, whose president, Evo Morales, had just days earlier appeared on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," imploring the audience, "Please don't consider me part of the 'axis of evil.' " Back in Bolivia, however, Morales met with Ahmadinejad for five hours, signed a cooperation agreement worth $1 billion and established the first-ever diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Iran's strategy is clear. At loggerheads with the Bush administration over its nuclear program, the Iranian government is making an ambitious diplomatic effort to create new allies in Latin America, the traditional U.S. sphere of influence. With any success, Iran will lock in a few supporters in the U.N. and repair its international reputation by extending aid for development and anti-poverty programs.

What's worrisome is that the strategy appears to be working, at least in some countries. Latin America's willingness to embrace Iran indicates how far U.S. prestige has fallen in the region.

More:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-erikson3oct03,0,5946650.story?coll=la-opinion-rightrail

~~~~~~~~ OR ~~~~~~~~
IRAN'S WINNING LATIN POWER PLAY

May 1, 2008

'A MAN of God and an enemy of the Great Satan": That's how Iran's official media described Fernando Lugo - the Paraguayan ex-priest who just won his country's presidency in a hotly contested election.

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - among the first foreign leaders to congratulate Lugo on his win - hopes that Paraguay will now become another link in what he calls "the counter lasso" - the chain of anti-US regimes he's supporting with the help of his "brother," Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Ahmadinejad's analysis is simple: America is trying to throw a lasso around Iran with the help of allies in surrounding regions. So Iran should throw a counter lasso via an alliance in the United States' South American backyard.

The Vatican had rejected Lugo's resignation from the priesthood but suspended him after he ran for office despite being denied permission. He visited Iran in the '90s to pay homage to the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini - whom Lugo has praised as "a forerunner of the modern global revolutionary movement."

More:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/05012008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/irans_winning_latin_power_play_108972.htm

~~~~~~~~ OR ~~~~~~~~
U.S. says Iran increasing activity in Latin America
Tue Mar 17, 2009 6:24pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iran is increasing its activity in Latin America and the Caribbean, including actions aimed at supporting the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, a top U.S. military commander said on Tuesday.
Navy Admiral James Stavridis, who oversees U.S. military interests in the region as head of U.S. Southern Command, also said Hezbollah was linked to drug-trafficking in Colombia.

"We have seen... an increase in a wide level of activity by the Iranian government in this region," Stavridis told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

~snip~
President Barack Obama's administration has sought to move toward dialogue with Tehran, despite sharp differences on several topics including Iran's nuclear program. Iran says it only wants to generate power while the Washington and its allies accuse Tehran of trying to build a nuclear bomb.

Stavridis is the latest U.S. defense official to express concerns about Iranian influence in Latin America, where the left-wing governments in Venezuela, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Bolivia have all become allies of Iran in recent years.

In January, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the same Senate panel he was more worried about Iranian "meddling" than he was about Russia's activities in Latin America.

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE52G5VK20090317?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

[lumpy]

2. Obviously H. Clinton is not to be trusted to tell the truth, whatever

it is. Lies and convolutions from DC, as usual. Disturbing.

[niceypoo]

3. Hillary speaks for Obama

She is not a rogue diplomat. She pushes Obama's policy.

[Flaneur]

4. Well, then, she better get her basic facts right.

Otherwise her boss looks bad.