Beware Iran in Latin America

by Andres Oppenheimer

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad must love the tropics. He has spent more time in Latin America than President Bush over the past 12 months, and is promising billions in economic aid to his friends in the region.

Last week's visit by Ahmadinejad to Venezuela and Bolivia marked his third trip to the region since September 2006. By comparison, Bush has only made one visit to the region over the same period.

Ahmadinejad -- whose reported support of terrorist groups and vows to ''annihilate'' Israel have raised U.S. and European concerns over Iran's nuclear program -- could hardly be signing cooperation agreements with Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua at a faster pace.

Last week, hours after German Chancellor Angela Merkel compared Ahmadinejad to Adolph Hitler in her speech at the United Nations, the Iranian president got a hero's welcome in La Paz from Bolivia's leftist President Evo Morales and pledged $1.1 billion in ''industrial cooperation'' aid to that country over the next five years.

Later, in Venezuela, Ahmadinejad confirmed a recent pledge to create a $2 billion joint investment fund.

Iran has already become the second largest investor in Venezuela, after the United States, and recently inaugurated a weekly Iran Air flight between Tehran and Caracas. Flights are packed with government officials and government-friendly business people, according to Venezuelan press reports.

In addition to opening an embassy in Bolivia, Iran is expanding its diplomatic missions across the region. After attending the inauguration of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and receiving two state medals from him in January, Ahmadinejad has stationed about 20 Iranian officials at his embassy there, which has by now become one of the largest in that country, Western diplomats say.

Earlier this year, the Iranian foreign ministry held its First International Seminar on Latin America in Tehran.

IRAN'S GOALS

What is Ahmadinejad looking for in Latin America?

First, he is seeking Latin American support to counter U.S. and European pressures to stop Iran from developing nuclear capabilities. Venezuela and Cuba were, alongside Syria, the only three countries that supported Iran's nuclear program in a February 2006 vote at the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency.

Second, Ahmadinejad wants to strike back at the United States in its own hemisphere. Iran may want to be able to finance anti-American groups and possibly destabilize U.S.-friendly governments in order to negotiate with Washington from a position of greater strength. Following the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Iran seems to be saying: ``You got into my neighborhood; now I'm getting into yours.''

Third, Ahmadinejad's popularity at home is falling, and he may want to show his people that he is being welcomed as a hero abroad.

NOT ISOLATED

Thomas Shannon, the top State Department official in charge of Latin American affairs, told me in a recent interview that Iran ``wants to show to its own citizens that it is not diplomatically isolated.''

Is Washington worried? I asked Shannon. He responded that the United States worries about Iran's ties to Hezbollah terrorists, who among other things are believed to have carried out the 1994 attack on the Jewish Community Center in Argentina that left 85 dead and 300 wounded.

''What worries us is Iran's history of activities in the region and especially its links to Hezbollah and the terrorist attack that took place in Buenos Aires,'' Shannon said. ``Past is prologue.''

NOT A GOOD IDEA

My opinion: If Ahmadinejad were cooperating with Argentina in the investigation of the 1994 bombing in Buenos Aires or abstained from calling for the ''annihilation'' of other countries, there would be nothing wrong with Latin nations welcoming aid from a new oil-rich partner, regardless of its Islamic fundamentalist-fascist ideology.

But the growing presence of obscure Iranian ''diplomatic personnel'' in Venezuela, Nicaragua and other countries in the region raises questions over whether Iranian agents will soon start slipping into other countries to support terrorist or totalitarian groups.

Importing the Middle Eastern conflict or bringing the Iran-U.S. conflict into Latin American territory is clearly in the interest of Iran, but it's a dangerous game for Latin America. Barring evidence that Iran was not tied to the 1994 bombing in Argentina, Latin American nations should keep Iran as far away as possible, before it's too late.

Source: Miami Herald