By Woodrow Wilson International Center.
On December 2, 1823, President James Monroe, in his State of the Union Address, established the principles of what is now known as the Monroe Doctrine: that the United States would consider any nation’s attempt to extend “their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety.”
Nearly two hundred years later, President George W. Bush, in his 2002 State of the Union Address, included the Islamic Republic of Iran in his now famous “axis of evil,” emphasizing it was “arming to threaten the peace of the world.”
It is therefore not surprising that the developing economic and political relations between the Iranian government and the governments of Bolivia, Ecuador, and Nicaragua—in addition to the more long-term relationship with Venezuela—have raised concerns in both the United States and the region about Iranian objectives in Latin America.
Iran’s involvement in Latin America is unquestionable, and is growing at a rapid pace; within four years of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad being elected in 2005, Iran opened six new embassies in Latin America including Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Uruguay, in addition to the five embassies already in operation – Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela.
Indeed, in no uncertain terms, Ahmadinejad has declared, “When the Western countries were trying to isolate Iran, we went to the U.S. backyard.” Throughout the region, Iran is brokering potentially significant economic deals. Iran and Venezuela have entered into more than two hundred bilateral agreements on a variety of issues while Ecuador and Iran have entered into an energy cooperation deal that calls for cooperation in the building of an energy refinery and petrochemical unit in Ecuador, training of Ecuadorian oil sector workers by Iranian experts and assistance with maintenance of Ecuadorian facilities.
In Nicaragua, Ahmadinejad has pledged to rebuild a sea port on Monkey Bay at a cost of more than $350 million. In addition, Bolivia has been promised Iranian invest-ments of more than $1 billion over the next five years
In August 2009, Iran “offered Bolivia a loan of $280 million, in addition to spending $200 million on building two cement factories and three milk facilities.” These numbers and others frequently reported are agreements and do not represent actual investments or expenditures on the part of the Iranian government. Farideh Farhi, has noted that Ahmadinejad “can go around and sign all these things, but ultimately it’s the Iranian parliament that has to decide whether it’s going to” fund each specific initiative.
Between 2001 and 2007, Iran and Venezuela entered into 180 cooperative agreements, valued by Iran at $20 billion Nevertheless, the International Monetary Fund estimated their bilateral trade at just $16 million in fiscal year 2006. While Iran is clearly driving the relationship, Latin America is far more than a passive participant observer. Following Iran’s commitment to invest $1.1 billion in Bolivia’s gas facilities, Bolivian President Evo Morales declared that the country’s only embassy in the Middle East would move from Cairo to Tehran.
More significantly, Morales lifted longstanding visa restrictions, allowing anyone with an Iranian passport to enter Bolivia without a visa or other documentation.11 Morales’ plea on The Daily Show, “Please don’t consider me part of the axis of evil,” notwithstanding, he has cautioned, “We will never promote war but nor do we accept that in the name of peace the criteria of the strongest prevails.”
Hugo Chávez’s decision to allow the establishment of Iran’s Banco Internacional de Desarrollo (BID) in Caracas provided Iran with a “foothold into the Venezuelan banking system” , “a perfect ‘sanctionsbusting’ method,” allowing Iran to evade U.S. financial sanctions.
Allegations abound, however, that Iran’s economic interests in Latin America are secondary, or at worst a cover, for more sinister desires. In November 2008, Turkish customs officials seized a suspicious Iranian shipment bound for Venezuela. The shipment, manifested as “tractor parts,” actually contained barrels of nitrate and sulfite chemicals, commonly used for explosives, as well as dismantled laboratory equipment.
Turkish officials engaged their Office of Atomic Energy and military experts to examine the materials.15 Similarly, some doubt the legitimacy of the plants and factories constructed by Iran in Venezuela. Robert Morgenthau, District Attorney for New York County, has suggested, “we should be concerned that illegal activity might be taking place” because of their “remote” location and “secretive nature.”
Nevertheless,on both sides, there exists a disconnect between pledges of cooperation and realities on the ground. U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton commented, for example, “The Iranians are building a huge embassy in Managua,” concluding, “and you can only imagine what that’s for.”
Not only did the Nicaraguan and Iranian governments deny such a project, but even a U.S. diplomat in Managua admitted, “There is no huge Iranian Embassy being built as far as we can tell.” A U.S. State Department spokesperson concluded, “It perhaps suggests the Iranians are talking about investments and influence that they don’t yet have.”
Given Iran’s nuclear capabilities, there is concern throughout the region and in the United States as to what role supportive countries like Venezuela might play in the advancement and proliferation of nuclear technologies. Colombian President Álvaro Uribe has expressed concern saying, “We are very worried and I can’t refrain from saying so, that nuclear war be brought to our neighborhood. This is very serious, very worrying,”19 and with seemingly good reason. In September 2009,
“Iran said it test-fired short-range missiles, just days after it confirmed it is building a second uranium-enrichment facility.”20 Rodolfo Sanz, Venezuela’s minister of basic industries and mining has indicated that Venezuela “could have important reserves of Uranium,” and while he rejects allegations that Venezuela is supplying Iran’s nuclear program, he did confirm that “Iran is helping us with geophysical aerial probes and geochemical analyses.”
In September 2009, Chávez announced an agreement with Russia for assistance in developing a nuclear energy program and plans for the establishment of a “nuclear village” with technological assistance from Iran. Asked if Washington is worried, Thomas Shannon, then the top State Department official for Latin America, responded, “What worries us is Iran’s history of activities in the region and especially its links to Hezbollah and the terrorist attacks that took place in Buenos Aires,”concluding, “Past is prologue.”
As far back as November 2007, the United States House of Representatives passed a resolution “expressing concern about threats to the U.S. by deepening economic and security ties between Iran and like-minded regimes in the Western Hemisphere, including Venezuela.” The resolution had its base in “evidence that Iranian-backed Hezbollah, a designated terrorist organization raises…..
To read more about this great repor please go to: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/Iran_in_LA.pdf
