If the notion of terrorist organizations using nuclear weapons, especially suitcase nukes, is a threat to American rhetoric and culture, then it is evident that Chávez’s anti-US rhetoric and support for Iran's nuclear program heighten concerns about Venezuela's pursuit of nuclear power in Latin and South America and seepage into the Caribbean as well.
While it may be true that the Treaty of Tlatelolco prohibits the possession of nuclear weapons in the Caribbean and Latin and South America, and any move taken by Venezuela to pursue nuclear weapons would go against existing international law, it must be remembered that the doctrine of ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend’ still prevails in the promiscuous bedchambers of politics. The birth of a nuclear-armed revolutionary troublemaker in the United States’ own backyard thus empowers Iran’s strategic interests in its quest for nuclear supremacy.
In response to critics who claim that it was nuclear weapons that changed the course of conventional warfare since the advent of World War II, that radiation sources treat disease in humans and medical products such as syringes, intravenous tubings and catheters are all composed of radiation materials, on the other side of the dubious coin, the risk of nuclear reactors far outweigh the consequences, as terrorism radioactive materials could make terrorists inclined to attack nuclear reactors, disrupt critical inputs, i.e. water supply for the safe running of a nuclear reactor.Combined with theft of nuclear waste, the acquisition and fabrication of fissile material for nuclear bomb and complete takeover of nuclear-armed submarines, planes or bases, the presence of nuclear terrorism in Venezuela becomes a serious security problem for Latin and South American and Caribbean nations.
Associated Press reports lend credibility to the idea that Venezuela is interested specifically in nuclear weapons and not just civilian nuclear. The recent seizure of containers by Turkish authorities going to Venezuela from Iran labeled “tractor parts” which, according to one Turkish official, "was enough to set up an explosives lab” is evidence enough to indicate that Chavez is indeed seeking nuclear offensive weapons.
While there is no reason to doubt the sincerity of Chavez’s political and economic reform pledges to give the poor a greater share of the country's oil wealth, the idea of developing his own indigenous nuclear infrastructure should also be closely monitored, as not only is there compelling evidence that Venezuela’s government and banks, with the help of the Ahmadinejad government and Iranian shell companies, are providing Iran with uranium mined in southeastern Venezuela; but Moscow’s assistance in training nuclear scientists and helping Caracas with the construction of several nuclear power plants should hasten security concerns for Latin and South America and Caribbean states.
In this light, Chavez’s fanaticism should not only be looked at as the pursuit of an aggressive foreign policy in Venezuela, or the attraction and attention for international recognition as a major regional (global) player but as a grave part of a campaign of military offensive power.
Although Chávez' reform program was aimed at redistributing the benefits of Venezuela's oil wealth to the lower socio-economic groups by using it to fund programs such as health care and education, it is clear that it has taken a different turn with its development of neighborhood militias, modeled after Cuba's Communist apparatus, garnering support of more South American countries for the cause of liberation from American imperialism and imploring Iran’s help for ballistic missiles in exchange for oil -- a blatant violation of United Nations Security Council's economic sanctions and a total insult to international law.
While European and American leaders can use the tool of crippling sanctions to stall and reverse Iran's pursuit of nuclear activity, this is not the case for Venezuela because in Venezuela there is no lack of oil resources. The country has sufficient reserves based on current production estimates, to last more than a century. Therefore, Venezuela is not using this tactic to attain economic and trade benefits as Chavez’s vitriolic diatribes about nuclear weapons are aimed at increasing his own narcissistic and egoistical ambitions and counterbalancing US influence in the Caribbean and Latin and South America.
It follows that, if the first step in the mitigation of nuclear terrorism is the serious and rapid effort to build intelligence capabilities, then regular monitoring of ports in Venezuela must be intensified since Caribbean ports are absorbent and, geographically speaking, Caribbean islands such as Trinidad and Tobago, Curacao, Aruba and the leeward Antilles lie near the Venezuelan coast, thereby making Venezuela as much a Caribbean country as it is a South American one.
Evidence suggests that South America is now a hideout and breeding ground for the world’s most dangerous terrorist organizations, including al Qaeda, Hezbollah and Hamas. Pockets of South America, including areas in Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador, hostile to US ideologies, are rapidly becoming launching pads from which the world’s most lethal anti-American entities could strike immense havoc to Latin and South American and Caribbean states.
Added charges that Iran-backed Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon setting up cells in Latin America and Venezuela issuing permits that allow Iranian residents to travel freely in South America and the rest of the Caribbean should arouse concern to intelligence officials in the US and the Caribbean basin as a direct security threat is now in effect.
It is also worth noting that the nature and motivations of terrorism has changed since the fatal morn of 911. The growing numbers of nuclear smugglers, Soviet bloc military and intelligence personnel in Latin America peddling their trade, and the constant disappearance of enriched uranium from sites where they were produced and stored should cause security alarms because the availability of fissile material in the hands of lunatics, even at the high prices that it is offered today can transform the desire for nuclear weapons into a short order notice, propelling our imaginations back to Khrushchev’s long range missiles in Cuba or Pyongyang’s link in the daisy chain.
The Obama administration’s utopian ideals for a world of peace and security without nuclear weapons lag in the distance if Venezuela’s nuclear ambitions are not taken into account. The presence of nuclear terrorism in Venezuela opens the floodgates for the need for real security arrangements to ensure the security and stability of Latin and South American and Caribbean states.
October 11, 2010
caribbeannewsnow
