Posted on 03/11/2014 11:20:17 AM PDT by mgist
Venezuela: A Growing Threat to the United States 11/06/20130
The election of Nicolás Maduro ensured that Venezuela would continue to embrace the Bolivarian brand of socialism championed by the late president Hugo Chávez. Maduro has indeed retained Chávez’s leftist policies such as manipulative price controls, which has subsequently led to a stalled economy ridden with inflation [1]. Venezuela, a geopolitically significant country with vast oil reserves, has emerged alongside Brazil as one of the driving forces in South America. At the same time, Venezuela’s growing alliances with Russia and Iran have exacerbated the already contentious relationship with the United States. As a result, the country continues to pose an increasingly detrimental threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy initiatives.
Maduro, Chávez’s favored successor, has already demonstrated a fierce opposition against American interests on the international stage. For example, just months after taking office, Maduro offered asylum to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, boldly proclaiming at a July conference at the Kremlin, “Latin America is telling this young man you are being persecuted by the empire; come here.” [2] The death of Chávez granted the United States the unique opportunity to possibly make inroads and establish constructive ties with Venezuela. Maduro possessed the ability to take the country in an alternative direction of increased international cooperation and to stray away from the fiercely radical sentiments of the socialist regime. However, such a drastic shift in Venezuelan foreign policy seems practically impossible, especially as Maduro now asserts himself in the international arena. Following antagonistic comments from current U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power regarding civil rights violations in Venezuela, Maduro abruptly ceased efforts to improve relations with the United States. [3] It is apparent that Maduro, while maybe not as fervently outspoken as his predecessor, is nevertheless inclined to unequivocally oppose U.S. interests abroad. Given the enormous popularity of Chávez, it is likely that he will seek to increasingly demonstrate his own socialist, anti-Western views in an effort to develop a loyal political following.
As the United States has embraced the reactionary foreign policy approach of the Obama administration, Russia has increasingly asserted itself on the world stage. The recent crisis in Syria, in which Obama embarrassingly retreated from his original position in favor of a Russian-led proposal, is a prime example. Perhaps Vladimir Putin recently taking away from Obama the number one spot on the 2013 Forbes World’s Most Powerful List is a symbolic transition. [4] Maybe the United States will no longer be viewed as the unequivocal mediator of international conflict, especially now that Russia has demonstrated an affinity for the role of peacemaker. Consequently, Venezuela’s existing strategic ties with Russia will only grow in significance as Putin increases his sphere of influence, an alarming reality for the United States.
In 2010 the Venezuelan legislature approved an agreement with Russia which provides the country with the logistical support to develop two nuclear reactors for the purpose of generating civilian power. [5] Obviously, such steps are the necessary precursors for ultimately developing a nuclear weapons program. For years Iran has deflected allegations of weapons development by similarly asserting that the country’s nuclear program is merely for civilian purposes. Obviously, Venezuela is still years away from developing a functional nuclear weapon. However, given that a nuclear Venezuela would be catastrophic to the balance of power throughout Latin America, the U.S. should be vigilant and proactive. Latin America is very much a developing part of the world, as various countries are still trying to emerge from the aftermath of the government-rebel conflicts of the late 20th century. As a result, a nuclear Venezuela could easily increase the possibility of other countries pursuing nuclear weapons, Brazil especially. Such a ripple effect would harm U.S. interests both economically and diplomatically, not to mention increasing the possibility of military action.
Russian influence in Venezuela extends well beyond nuclear ambitions, as the two countries are intertwined in both an economic and military sense. For example, Russia has sold Venezuela billions of dollars worth of military supplies, invested even more in their oil industry, and even participated in joint naval exercises off the Venezuelan coast. [6] The transition of power from Chávez to Maduro does not seem to have had any tangible effect on the relationship between the two countries. In fact, Maduro and Putin have both affirmed their support for a growing alliance between the two countries, as each is able to realize the mutually beneficial nature of the relationship. [7]
Iran, classified by the U.S. as the world’s chief state-sponsor of worldwide terrorism, perhaps has an even more concerning connection to Venezuela. A relationship initially fostered by Chávez, the two countries pledged military support for one another in 2008, with reports indicating Iranian military advisers are already present within the Venezuelan army. [8] We are already seeing the negative impacts of such an alliance, as Iran is believed to be a key sponsor of the narco-terrorism currently plaguing South America. [9] In response to Iranian operatives seeking to use these narco-terrorist routes to enter America, the U.S. Navy has vowed to expand the scope of its worldwide operations. [10] This type of cooperation between the two countries serves as a destabilizing force throughout the Latin American region. More importantly, this violence could end up becoming uncomfortably close to American borders.
As with Russia, Venezuela is using its relationship with Iran to foster its own nuclear ambitions. In addition to exchanging information regarding nuclear technology, the two countries have mutually opposed UN anti-proliferation efforts and engaged in joint mining operations throughout Venezuela. [11] Similarly with Putin, Maduro seems keen to maintain and strengthen his predecessor’s relationship with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In addition to a warm congratulations following his victory, Ahmadinejad even proclaimed his intentions to attend Maduro’s inauguration. [12]
Venezuela, Russia and Iran are in the process of developing a formidable alliance that is bound by mutual economic and diplomatic goals, a very alarming prospect for the United States. Led by an increasingly assertive and internationally respected Vladimir Putin, this triumvirate could greatly damage U.S. interests across the world. Iran, along with continuing to antagonize Israel and destabilize the Middle East, is currently seeking to encroach upon American initiatives in Latin America. Russia, seeking to further expand its influence around the world, will soon capitalize upon their investments in Venezuela, potentially exerting considerable authority in the region. Finally, Venezuela, as a beneficiary of its continued partnerships with Russia and Iran, could over time develop into a South American superpower that rivals Brazil. Perhaps the aforementioned chain of events will not crystallize in such a consequential manner; however, Venezuela’s international ambitions certainly threaten the United States as well as the global balance of power.
Article from 2011.
Government ignoring Iran Venezuela Narco Terrorism Connection
http://www.fpri.org/enotes/2011/201112.neumann.narcoterrorism.html
Press stories, as well as a television documentary, over the past two months have detailed the growing cooperation between South American drug traffickers and Middle Eastern terrorists, proving that the United States continues to ignore the mounting terrorist threat in its own “backyard” of Latin America at its own peril.
A greater portion of financing for Middle Eastern terrorist groups, including Hezbollah and Al Qaeda, is coming from Latin America, while they are also setting up training camps and recruiting centers throughout our continent, endangering American lives and interests globally. Some Latin American countries that were traditional allies for the U.S. (including Venezuela) have now forged significant political and economic alliances with regimes whose interests are at odds with those of the U.S., particularly China, Russia and Iran.
In fact Iran and Iran’s Lebanese asset, “the Party of God,” Hezbollah, have now become the main terror sponsors in the region and are increasingly funded by South American cocaine. (now it is heroin)
I'd call that a threat of sorts.
Venezuela is not and never will by a threat to the USA.
However, if we don’t do something to stop the immigration invasion, we will be getting a Chavez style hard socialist president one day.
When the Norks blow off a missile they don’t have a clue of where its going to land. It would just as likely land in Beijeing square as the US.
If you want to lose sleep I would suggest my two favorite nightmares; a cyber attack putting the grid down or Obama declaring martial law and trying to take over.
Pride is in such opposition to God. Venezuelans NEVER thought something as ridiculous as what happened to Cuba, could ever happen to Venezuela. This is what God says about immigration. So does my Catholic faith. It is something Reagan understood.
Leviticus 19:33-34 ESV
“When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
Matthew 25:35
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,
Exodus 22:21
“You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
Malachi 3:5
“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.
Deuteronomy 27:19
“‘Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
Zechariah 7:9-10
“Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.”
Hebrews 13:2
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
Jeremiah 7:5-7
“For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever.
Ezekiel 47:22
You shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the sojourners who reside among you and have had children among you. They shall be to you as native-born children of Israel. With you they shall be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.
Leviticus 25:35
“If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you.
Deuteronomy 26:5
“And you shall make response before the Lord your God, ‘A wandering Aramean was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous.
Deuteronomy 10:18
He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.
Matthew 5:46-47
For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
Proverbs 31:8-9
Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.
Genesis 12:1
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
Philippians 3:20
But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
Ruth 1:16
But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.
Genesis 18:1-8
And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth and said, “O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, while I bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.”
Luke 13:29
And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God.
Matthew 5:40-42
And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
Matthew 2:14
And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt
Micah 6:8
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Luke 13:29-30
And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God. And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”
Mark 12:30-31
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Psalm 137:1-9
By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up our lyres. For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill!
1 Timothy 5:8
But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Luke 3:5-7
Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’” He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
You cannot have a first world country with a third world population.
So you know better than God? Marxism distorts God's love with lies, divides, creates resentment, and can rationalize evil hehavior as a means tonan end. Whether you know it or not, you have Marxist influences. We are either a nation of God or we will decieved and led astray. Easy as that. In all honesty Venezuelans were equally arrogant in their belle epoch. It was a great country. Maybe it's true that a nation deserves its' leaders? Regardless friend, if you put your own beliefs above those of God, life will knock you on your ass and humble you and those you love. No bueno. I pray the Holy Spirit give us all the wisdom to do His will! Not ours.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.