Posted on 07/13/2009 12:59:23 PM PDT by forkinsocket
MANAGUA, Nicaragua -- For months, the reports percolated in Washington and other capitals. Iran was constructing a major beachhead in Nicaragua as part of a diplomatic push into Latin America, featuring huge investment deals, new embassies and even TV programming from the Islamic republic.
"The Iranians are building a huge embassy in Managua," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned in May. "And you can only imagine what that's for."
But here in Nicaragua, no one can find any super-embassy.
Nicaraguan reporters scoured the sprawling tropical city in search of the embassy construction site. Nothing. Nicaraguan Chamber of Commerce chief Ernesto Porta laughed and said: "It doesn't exist." Government officials say the U.S. Embassy complex is the only "mega-embassy" in Managua. A U.S. diplomat in Managua conceded: "There is no huge Iranian Embassy being built as far as we can tell."
The mysterious, unseen giant embassy underscores how Iran's expansion into Latin America may be less substantive than some in Washington fear.
Iran's proposed investments in Nicaragua -- for a deep-water port, hydroelectric plants and a tractor factory -- have also failed to materialize, Nicaraguan officials say. At a time when Iran's oil revenue is falling, the same is true of many projects planned for Latin America, according to analysts.
U.S. officials emphasized that there is plenty of reason to be concerned about Iran, which they consider a state sponsor of terrorism. But the Iranian activity has revived Cold War-style rhetoric in Washington that at times doesn't match what is evident in places such as Managua.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Oh, okay. I thought they meant the Nicaraguan embassy in Tehran. And considering the Iranians’ record with visible embassies, it strikes me that an invisible one there might not be a bad idea.
Axis of Evil grows rapidly under the Obama “watch” -— or non-watch as it is.
G*d help us when Hillary Clinton has to be the only one sounding the alarm about threats on our southern flank
Saw a clip on Twitter a few minutes ago with information about Friday in Iran. This was from an individual who I have contacted several times. But there is not way to verify anything in Iran.
“This Friday there will be a million protesters in the streets of Tehran, be ready”
If that happens, something really big is brewing.
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