Blocking a new axis of evil

Washington Times ^ | 8/07/02 | Constantine C. Menges

[kattracks]

A new terrorist and nuclear weapons/ballistic missile threat may well come from an axis including Cuba's Fidel Castro, the Chavez regime in Venezuela and a newly elected radical president of Brazil, all with links to Iraq, Iran and China. Visiting Iran last year. Mr. Castro said: "Iran and Cuba can bring America to its knees," while Chavez expressed his admiration for Saddam Hussein during a visit to Iraq.

[Red Jones]

bump

[marron]

Ever feel like you're skating faster and faster while the ice is breaking up under your feet?

Populist irrationality has very nearly destroyed Venezuela, but Chavez' maintains his grip on power by blaming the rich, and the US, for all of his country's ills. There are still enough Venezuelans who want to believe him, that his position seems secure.

Panama has sold itself out to the Chinese, and ejected us in the bargain.

Colombia is wracked by a populist insurgency, and Ecuador teeters on the brink. Uruguay and Argentina have been crushed as their bad government chickens are coming home to roost.

The problem is that everywhere, people are being told that the problem is "neo-liberalism", which is a code word for free-enterprise capitalism, which most certainly was not the cause of their misery, since these countries all, all, have state-directed economies, and are run by socialists.

In latin america there is no equivalent to the Republican or Libertarian parties. There are only pro-business socialists, and anti-business socialists.

Alone, they are no threat to us, but aligned with another great, hostile, power, they represent a nightmare scenario. We faced this in the bad old days, as we faced down Soviet backed insurgencies and coups and political movements.

We had a decade of relative calm, but now the Chinese are fishing in these waters, and we cannot afford to look away.

[marron]

And lest we feel too superior, just remember that Gore won the popular vote in the US. And Clinton was elected twice.

[livius]

Excellent article. Ping to CW.

Clinton's neglect of Latin America and his pandering to Communists there may one day turn out to be even more treasonous and dangerous to us than his mismanagement of the Middle East. Not mentioned in this article was the fact that there is an increasing radical Islamic presence in certain parts of Latin America. To make this worse, they are allied with the left (as in Chiapas, where Islamic "missionaries" are making headway among the Indians). Dangerous times ahead.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

The Left's solution to poverty; spread poverty around.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Throw Libya into the mix.

Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba resuming in August - Libya studying Cuba's oil refinery***Rodriguez added that Cuba and Venezuela had studied the possibility of modernizing Cuba's Cienfuegos refinery but decided the project isn't feasible. He said OPEC member Libya is conducting a similar study and that Venezuela is sharing information on Cienfuegos with Libya.***

Venezuela-Libya Ties Coming to the Surface ***However, Venezuelan sources with longtime ties to Rich said negotiations with Crown Resources ended last year when a due diligence investigation turned up "troubling indications" of links with suspected Russian mobsters. Rich, who fled to Switzerland to avoid tax-evasion charges and was pardoned by former President Bill Clinton in January 2001, may have feared running afoul of legal authorities in the United States and Europe if he closed a deal with the firm. If the allegations involving Crown Resources are accurate, it would indicate that high-level officials in the Chavez regime are involved not only in questionable loan and investment negotiations with the governments of Libya and Cuba, but also with a company alleged to have ties to some members of Russia's criminal underworld.

Senior Venezuelan government officials believed to be involved in the Cienfuegos talks include PDVSA president Ali Rodriguez and Foreign Minister Roy Chaderton, according to military intelligence and oil industry sources in Caracas. The disclosure that Rodriguez is representing the Chavez regime in the negotiations has caused an uproar at the highest levels within PDVSA. Company vice president Jorge Kamkoff, a veteran oilman who is widely respected within the oil industry in Venezuela and internationally, has reportedly objected strenuously to undertaking any investments in the Cuban facility. Kamkoff did not return STRATFOR's calls seeking confirmation of these reports. However, other sources in PDVSA said July 26 that Kamkoff will be forced to retire in weeks or even days and likely will be replaced by Aires Barreto, a naturalized Venezuelan citizen who was born in Goa, India. Barreto reportedly is widely despised within PDVSA because he conducted a purge of veteran middle- and senior-level company managers during the controversial tenure of former PDVSA president Hector Ciavaldini.

STRATFOR's sources in the company also said that the Chavez regime's recent announcement that oil shipments to Cuba would be renewed Aug. 1, plus the disclosure about the possible investment in Cienfuegos, has infuriated many career oil-industry employees and managers. Moreover, their rage is being fanned by what appears to be an intensifying campaign of surveillance and intimidation of PDVSA employees who do not publicly support the Chavez regime's attempts to forge closer commercial and investment relations with Cuba and Libya. A recent internal company document warns that many PDVSA managers and employees are once again discussing the possibility of staging work slowdowns and possibly even a general strike in the coming weeks, which could shut down Venezuela's oil production and exports and possibly force Chavez out of office a second time after a brief coup earlier this year.***

Hugo Chavez - Venezuela

Fidel Castro - Cuba

[Cincinatus' Wife]

The Southern Threat***The radical presidential candidate has said his country should have nuclear weapons and should move closer to Communist China, which has actively courted elements of the military and has made investments in the aerospace industry, resulting in, among other things, a jointly operated imagery satellite. It is also reported that a leading air force general from this country led a group of more than 20 missile scientists who went to work for Saddam Hussein after a democratic president canceled their successful ballistic missile program in 1990.

The country that could come under the rule of this pro-Castro radical is Brazil, which, as a democracy for more than 20 years, has been a constructive partner of the United States and other democracies. Brazil borders almost every country in South America. Under a radical president, it would very likely be the focal point for political and military assistance to the Communist narco-guerrillas in Colombia and to anti-democratic groups seeking to overturn potentially fragile democracies in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru--not to mention neighboring Argentina, already in the grip of economic crisis.

The man who may bring all this about is Luis Inacio da Silva, presidential candidate of the Workers' party. Now 56, da Silva has been active in far left labor organizations and politics since the 1970s. He narrowly lost his first presidential bid in 1989, when he received 47 percent of the vote. With this fourth run for the presidency, he seems on the threshold of victory.***

[Tailgunner Joe]

bump

[Tailgunner Joe]

[GOPJ]

bump

[Cincinatus' Wife]

[adam stevens]

Radical Left Watch Ping!

I have begun a Ping list to keep track of the Radical Left. If you are interested in joining or have found a relevant story drop me a line.

[adam stevens]

The rise of these scumbags no doubt give new hope to the Dimorats who seek to take control of Congress so they can defund the military and leaving vulnerable to attack from scum as these men.

[Tailgunner Joe]

The Southern Threat

Marxist May Win the Presidency in Brazil This Fall

The Brazilian 2002 Elections:
A Stacked Deck?

Jesse Jackson compares Brazil candidate to Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela

[weikel]

Add me to it.

[Tailgunner Joe]

Lula: Is He Going To Have Brazil Go For Broke

[Tailgunner Joe]

US scents political shift in Latin America

Marxist-Inspired Cuban-Venezuelan-Brazilian Axis Could Create Massive Problems For U.S.

[Risa]

>>We had a decade of relative calm, but now the Chinese are fishing in these waters, and we cannot afford to look away.<<

Isn't it kind of absurd that America trades with China. And so-called 'American' businesses build their factories and hi-tech centers there, contributing to the rapid growth and enrichment of the Chinese economy, while our own economy is diminished. It seems to me that the American governing classes are collectively suicidal.

[marron]

When you invest a billion dollars in any country, you become a hostage to your own investment. Americans who are heavily invested in China become some of China's best spokesmen for precisely that reason. They have plenty to lose.

Ironically, but unsurprisingly, Taiwanese businessmen are finding themselves in the same boat. They have invested heavily on the mainland despite the obvious risks, building factories and such, and are now hostage to their investments. Allowing the Taiwanese elite to invest on the mainland was Beijing's smartest move. It has emasculated the independence movement among Taiwan's business class, or at least silenced them. Whatever their opinions on the matter, they must keep a low profile or find their facilities nationalized.