By The Daily Progress
Published: September 13, 2009
Much diplomatic tut-tutting was sparked by Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez’s gift of a book to President Obama at the Summit of the Americas in April.
The book, “The Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent,” wasn’t just an afterthought of a gift. Mr. Chavez, a political theater expert, made sure that the cameras captured the surprise gift and handshake, evidently intended to make a statement at Mr. Obama’s expense. That’s because the book makes the case against the U.S. and Europe for meddling in South America economically, politically and militarily.
President Obama sloughed off criticism of the warm greetings between the two, saying at the time that “Venezuela is a country whose defense budget is probably 1/600th of the United States’... . It’s unlikely that as a consequence of me shaking hands … with Mr. Chavez that we are endangering the strategic interests of the United States.”
Since the time of the infamous handshake, Mr. Chavez has been busy. He’s tried to prop up an ideological pal in Honduras, handed off anti-tank rocket launchers to terrorist insurgents in Colombia and closed 32 radio stations and two television stations in his own country. He’s criticized Peru for granting asylum to a leading political opponent in the 2006 Venezuelan presidential race, whom Mr. Chavez since tried to jail on corruption charges. He’s also proposed legislation prescribing prison terms for anyone convicted of “media crimes” in Venezuela.
Mr. Chavez has also been busy strengthening an axis between Venezuela and Iran. Although Iran is oil-rich, it falls about 40 percent short of its needed refining capacity. So, recently, he announced a deal to export 20,000 gallons of gasoline a day to Iran.
But in the most ominous development since the Obama-Chavez handshake, the Venezuelan leader announced plans to build what he called a “nuclear village” in Venezuela with Iranian cooperation. He offered no details, other than to defend his ally against charges it’s trying to build a nuclear weapon. CNN quotes him as saying, “Soon they will accuse us also of building an atomic bomb.”
Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau warned just that in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece (“The Emerging Axis of Iran and Venezuela,” Sept. 8). Pointing to a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace report, Mr. Morgenthau wrote that Venezuela has an estimated 50,000 tons of uranium ore in the ground. The report, he said, hints that Iran could be the beneficiary of any Venezuelan mining. Mr. Morgenthau’s office has investigated illegal Iranian bank transactions designed to hide the transfer of more than $300 million in cash to pay for nuclear weapons components and missiles. He wrote that his office believes Iran and Venezuela are working together to get around sanctions on weapons sales.
Mr. Chavez is opening up Venezuela to Iran because his “regime is bent on becoming a regional power and is fanatical in its approach to dealing with the U.S.,” Mr. Morgenthau said. And, he warned us all: That handshake in April “is no reason to assume the threat has diminished. In fact … we are entering a period where the fruits of the Iran-Venezuela bond will begin to ripen.”
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Source: http://www2.dailyprogress.com/cdp/news/opinion/op_ed/article/chavezs_grip_strengthens/45280/
Note: Bolds and Italics added.
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