Hace tres semanas, un clérigo allegado al presidente iraní Mahmud Amadineyad se deleitaba anunciando públicamente que la crisis financiera mundial era un castigo divino a Estados Unidos. Pero su risa le duró poco: el gobierno iraní dilapidó los ingresos petroleros de estos años y ahora se descubre que tiene escasas reservas monetarias.

Irán se sumió esta semana en una crisis de ásperas recriminaciones políticas, dirigidas mayormente contra Ahmadineyad. A medida que caen los precios del petróleo, Irán se ve atrapado en un dilema clásico: el gobierno de Ahmadineyad no ahorró lo suficiente de los miles de millones de dólares que había ganado durante los años de bonanza petrolera para hacer frente ahora a las vacas flacas. Ahora, la crisis económica ha entrado en el terreno político.

Muy impopular. Las preocupaciones económicas son clave para Ahmadineyad —muy impopular— que pretende buscar la reelección. Sus críticos dicen que ha despilfarrado las ganancias petroleras con costosas importaciones subsidiadas, desde fruta y otros productos hasta uncluso nafta, que la nación debe importar debido a su pobre capacidad de refinación. Resulta irónico que el país invierta miles de millones de dólares en buscar producir energía nuclear con un programa resistido por la comunidad internacional, cuando no puede siquiera autoabastecerse de combustibles pese a ser una potencia petrolera. Entre las estadísticas ominosas reveladas esta semana surgió un número escalofriante: al gobierno le quedarían solamente unos 9.000 millones de dólares de reservas en divisas, según un funcionario aliado del presidente. Otros funcionarios lo desmintieron y dijeron que la nación todavía tenía entre 20.000 millones y 25.000 millones de dólares. Aunque estas cifras sean ciertas, son relativamente bajas y sorprendieron a la nación. Un informe elevado al líder supremo iraní, ayatola Ali Jamenei, y al Parlamento, acusa al gobierno de Ahmadineyad de transgresiones financieras. Se lo acusó de retirar dinero ilegalmente de las reservas.

Renta triplicada. Hay pocas dudas de que Irán debería estar nadando en dinero, según una revisión de estadísticas de la agencia Associated Press: Irán prácticamente triplicó sus ganancias petroleras en los últimos años. Economistas iraníes contactados por la agencia AP calcularon que el gobierno ganó más de 200.000 millones de dólares por exportaciones petroleras en los tres últimos años, durante el gobierno de Ahmadineyad, un promedio de 66.000 millones anuales, en comparación con 173.000 millones ganados en los ocho años anteriores, a un promedio de 21.000 millones anuales.

Con esos ingresos, Irán pudo haber forjado una reserva de 100.000 millones de dólares en divisas fuertes, calculó el economista Mohammad Bagher Nowbakht. Irán es el cuarto productor petrolero del mundo y el rubro representa el 80 por ciento del presupuesto del gobierno. Está claro que para el polémico régimen del presidente Ahmadineyad ese maná es insuficiente.

Labels: Iran

U.S. and Colombian officials say they have dismantled a South American-based drug ring that helped finance the Lebanon-based Shiite militant group.

Reported from Bogota, Colombia and Madrid -- U.S. and Colombian investigators have dismantled an international cocaine smuggling and money laundering ring that allegedly used part of its profits to finance Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based Shiite militia, officials said Tuesday.

Culminating a two-year investigation, authorities arrested at least 36 suspects in recent days, including an accused Lebanese kingpin in Bogota, the Colombian capital. Chekry Harb, who used the alias "Taliban," acted as the hub of an unusual and alarming alliance between South American cocaine traffickers and Middle Eastern militants, Colombian investigators allege.

Authorities accuse Harb of being a "world-class money launderer" whose ring washed hundreds of millions of dollars a year, from Panama to Hong Kong, while paying a percentage to Hezbollah, which is designated as a terrorist group by the United States and Israel. Harb was charged with drug-related crimes in a sealed indictment filed in Miami in July, but terrorism-related charges have not been filed.

The suspects allegedly worked with a Colombian cartel and a paramilitary group to smuggle cocaine to the United States, Europe and the Middle East. Harb traveled extensively to Lebanon, Syria and Egypt and was in phone contact with Hezbollah figures, according to Colombian officials.

"The profits from the sales of drugs went to finance Hezbollah," said Gladys Sanchez, lead investigator for the special prosecutor's office in Bogota, in an interview. "This is an example of how narco-trafficking is a theme of interest to all criminal organizations, the FARC, the paramilitaries and terrorists."


The FARC is the Spanish acronym for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia guerrilla group.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration led the far-flung investigation, playing a central role in nailing down the Hezbollah connection, Sanchez said. U.S. officials in Bogota and Washington declined to discuss details of their evidence.

Iran, Hezbollah's longtime sponsor, and donations from the Lebanese diaspora are two sources for a multimillion-dollar budget that pays for the militia's armed and political wings and for social projects such as hospitals in Beirut. But investigations around the world have shown that Hezbollah also funds itself through drug dealing, arms trafficking, contraband smuggling and other rackets in the Americas, Africa and elsewhere.

Western anti-terrorism agents have expressed concern about an increasing Hezbollah presence in South America. The militia is accused of two major anti-Jewish bombings in Argentina in the 1990s. In June, the U.S. Treasury Department designated two Venezuelans of Lebanese descent, one a diplomat, as Hezbollah financiers and supporters.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's alliance with Iran raises fears that his country could become a base for Hezbollah activity, said U.S. and Israeli anti-terrorist officials who spoke anonymously because of the issue's sensitivity. Venezuela has strongly denied any links to terrorist activity.

Venezuela also serves as the corridor for a third of Colombian cocaine bound for the U.S. and Europe, including some loads moved by Harb's group, Colombian investigators said.

The case unveiled Tuesday began as a money laundering probe, but as agents followed the money they discovered the links between Harb and Hezbollah operatives, investigators said. Harb's group paid Hezbollah 12% of its profits, much of it in cash, the investigators said, without giving a dollar figure.

The inquiry grew into Operation Titan, a two-year case worked by Colombian and U.S. agents that has led to more than 130 arrests and the seizure of $23 million, Sanchez said. Investigators deployed 370 wiretaps and monitored 700,000 conversations.

"This case was brought about by putting undercover agents into the money laundering cycle," said a U.S. government official who was not authorized to comment publicly. "This has given us a window into the worldwide financial enterprise that by dotted lines links traffickers from South America and the United States to West Africa, Europe and Hong Kong."

The drugs were allegedly sent via Panama, Venezuela and Guatemala to the U.S., the Middle East and Europe.

Chinese police this year captured Oscar Cano Alazate, a Colombian accused of setting up dozens of front companies in Hong Kong to launder money for the group. Hong Kong and the Panama free-trade zone served as centers for a scheme whereby drug cash from the U.S. was funneled to firms that use it to buy goods, which are shipped to Colombia and sold to be turned back into cash, investigators said.

The group also used human couriers, fake businesses, international transfers and real estate transactions to launder the money in other locations, including Africa and Canada, Colombian officials said.

On Oct. 13, Colombian police arrested Harb, who lived on a resident's visa in Bogota with his family, after learning that he had an Air France ticket to Syria for the next day and becoming concerned that he might flee. They also arrested the other accused boss, Ali Mohamad Rahim, and Harb's brother, Zacaria, both Lebanese immigrants who had been living in Bogota. Chekry Harb is in his late 50s and Rahim in his early 40s, officials said.

Colombian officials said the three are among 15 of the suspects who will be extradited to the United States.

Harb's key suppliers in Bogota included leaders of the so-called Office of Envigado, according to Colombian authorities. The paramilitary drug trafficking organization headed by Diego Fernando Murillo, known as Don Berna, and other former foot soldiers of the late Medellin cartel boss Pablo Escobar has an international reach.

Labels: Colombia, Iran

Irán usaría bancos menores para acciones ilícitas (EFE)

El Departamento del Tesoro de Estados Unidos anunció ayer sanciones contra el Banco de Desarrollo de Exportaciones de Irán y el Banco Internacional de Desarrollo de Venezuela, por sus supuestos servicios para los militares iraníes.

Según esa entidad, el Banco de Desarrollo de Exportaciones, su compañía de corretaje bursátil, su compañía de cambio de monedas extranjeras, y el Banco Internacional de Desarrollo "han dado o han intentado dar servicios financieros al Ministerio de Defensa y a la Agencia de Logística de las Fuerzas Armadas" iraníes, reseñó Efe.

"En respuesta a las sanciones internacionales (...) Irán ha adoptado una estrategia de uso de instituciones menos prominentes(...) para el manejo de sus transacciones ilícitas", afirmó el subsecretario del Tesoro, Stuart Levey.

Añadió que con la medida EEUU pretende exponer a las instituciones bancarias que ayudan a Irán a violar las sanciones de la ONU, para que otros bancos puedan protegerse.

El Departamento de Tesoro señaló que el Banco Internacional de Desarrollo con sede en Caracas, "son propiedad, o están bajo el control, o actúan directa o indirectamente a nombre de, o se presentan como que actúan en nombre del Banco de Desarrollo de Exportaciones de Irán".

Estados Unidos aclaró que el Banco Internacional de Desarrollo C.A. es una entidad diferente y separada del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID) con sede en Washington, y del Banco de Desarrollo Económico y Social de Venezuela (Bandes) que es una entidad del Estado venezolano.

Labels: Iran, United States, Venezuela

The Lebanese Shiite militia, linked to deadly attacks in Argentina in the 1990s, may be taking advantage of Chavez's ties with its ally Iran, terrorism experts say.

Western anti-terrorism officials are increasingly concerned that Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based Shiite Muslim militia that Washington has labeled a terrorist group, is using Venezuela as a base for operations.

Linked to deadly attacks on Jewish targets in Argentina in the early 1990s, Hezbollah may be taking advantage of Venezuela's ties with Iran, the militia's longtime sponsor, to move "people and things" into the Americas, as one Western government terrorism expert put it.

As part of his anti-American foreign policy, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has established warm diplomatic relations with Iran and has traveled there several times. The Bush administration, Israel and other governments worry that Venezuela is emerging as a base for anti-U.S. militant groups and spy services, including Hezbollah and its Iranian allies.

"It's becoming a strategic partnership between Iran and Venezuela," said a Western anti-terrorism official who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the issue's sensitivity.

Several joint Venezuelan-Iranian business operations have been set up in Venezuela, including tractor, cement and auto factories. In addition, the two countries have formed a $2-billion program to fund social projects in Venezuela and elsewhere in Latin America.


Those deepening ties worry U.S. officials because Iranian spies around the world have been known to work with Hezbollah operatives, sometimes using Iranian embassies as cover, Western intelligence experts say.

In June, Assistant Secretary of State Thomas A. Shannon said Iran "has a history of terror in this hemisphere, and its linkages to the bombings in Buenos Aires are pretty well established."

"One of our broader concerns is what Iran is doing elsewhere in this hemisphere and what it could do if we were to find ourselves in some kind of confrontation with Iran," Shannon said.

Fears about the threat from Hezbollah's global networks intensified after the slaying in February of Imad Mughniyah, a notorious leader of the militia, in Damascus, the Syrian capital. Hezbollah and Iran accused Israel and promised revenge, putting Western authorities on guard against attacks on Israeli or Jewish targets around the world.

Although the Bush administration is embroiled in political conflict with the Chavez government, allegations that Hezbollah and Iranian spies operate in Venezuela date to the 1990s, before Chavez took office.

The most concrete allegations of a Hezbollah presence in Venezuela involve money-raising. In June, the U.S. Treasury Department designated two Venezuelan citizens as Hezbollah supporters and froze their U.S. assets.

Treasury officials formally accused Ghazi Nasr al Din, a Venezuelan diplomat of Lebanese descent, of using posts at embassies in the Middle East to support financing for Hezbollah and "discuss operational issues with senior officials" of the militia.

Nasr al Din "facilitated the travel" of Hezbollah members to and from Venezuela and to a "training course in Iran," according to Treasury officials. The president of a Shiite Muslim center in Caracas, he served as a diplomat in Damascus and later in Beirut, authorities say.

The second Venezuelan targeted by Treasury is Fawzi Kanan, a Caracas-based travel agent. He is also alleged to have facilitated travel for Hezbollah members and to have discussed "possible kidnappings and terrorist attacks" with senior Hezbollah officials in Lebanon. The Treasury allegations did not specify whether the alleged discussion involved plots for kidnappings in Venezuela or elsewhere.

In comments to a Venezuelan reporter, Kanan dismissed the charges as lies. The Venezuelan government has strenuously denied that it is harboring militants.

In March 2007, the intensified ties between Venezuela and Iran led to the start of weekly IranAir flights from Tehran to Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, that stop in Damascus.

The flights were highlighted in the State Department's annual assessment of global terrorism, which noted in April of this year that Venezuelan border officials at the Caracas airport often neglected to enter the arriving passengers into their immigration database and did not stamp passports. The Venezuelans have since tightened up on their procedures, informed sources say.

Despite those improvements, the IranAir flights also feature in recent intelligence gathered by Western anti-terrorism officials. Agents of Iran's Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah have allegedly set up a special force to attempt to kidnap Jewish businesspeople in Latin America and spirit them away to Lebanon, according to the Western anti-terrorism official. Iranian and Hezbollah operatives traveling in and out of Venezuela have recruited Venezuelan informants working at the Caracas airport to gather intelligence on Jewish travelers as potential targets for abduction, the Western anti-terrorism official said.

The allegations were reinforced by a statement last week by the Israeli government, issuing an alert to citizens warning that Hezbollah plans to kidnap Israelis around the world to retaliate for the Mughniyah assassination.

Hezbollah has long operated in the Lebanese communities of Latin America. In addition to receiving a multimillion-dollar infusion from Iran, the militia finances itself by soliciting or extorting money from the Lebanese diaspora and through rackets such as smuggling, fraud and the drug and diamond trade in South America and elsewhere, Matthew Levitt, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told Congress in 2005.

Three years ago, police in Colombia and Ecuador broke up an international cocaine-smuggling ring that functioned in Latin American countries, including Venezuela, and allegedly sent profits to Hezbollah in Lebanon. The lawless "tri-border" region connecting Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina has been a center of organized crime activities and finance linked to Hezbollah, Western anti-terrorism officials say.

Hezbollah operatives based there participated, along with Iranian spies, in the car bombings in Buenos Aires of the Israeli Embassy in 1992 and a Jewish community center two years later that killed a total of 114 people, an Argentine indictment charges.

In the aftermath of that indictment, filed in 2006, Hezbollah and its Iranian sponsors, chiefly the Revolutionary Guard, decided to shift from the increasingly scrutinized tri-border area to other countries, including Venezuela, Western anti-terrorism officials say.

"It preserves the capability of Hezbollah and the Revolutionary Guard to mount attacks inside Latin America. . . . It is very, very important to Iran and Hezbollah right now."

Labels: Iran, Venezuela