Monthly Archives: May 2011

May
17
2011
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In Case You Missed It… Iran building rocket bases in Venezuela

‘Die Welt’: Iran building rocket bases in Venezuela
Jerusalem Post
By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL
May 17, 2011

German paper says Iranians paid cash to build mid-range missile launch pads on Paraguana Peninsula; Iranian engineers visited site in Feb.

BERLIN – The Iranian government is moving forward with the construction of rocket launch bases in Venezuela, the German daily Die Welt wrote in its Thursday edition.

Iran is building intermediate- range missile launch pads on the Paraguaná Peninsula, and engineers from a construction firm – Khatam al-Anbia – owned by the Revolutionary Guards visited Paraguaná in February. Amir al-Hadschisadeh, the head of the Guard’s Air Force, participated in the visit, according to the report. Die Welt cited information from “Western security insiders.”

The rocket bases are to include measures to prevent air attacks on Venezuela as well as commando and control stations.

The Iranian military involvement in the project extends to bunker, barracks and watch tower construction. Twenty-meter deep rocket silos are planned. The cost of the Venezuelan military project is being paid for with Iranian oil revenue. The Iranians paid in cash for the preliminary phase of the project and, the total cost is expected to amount to “dozens of millions” of dollars, Die Welt wrote.

The Paraguaná Peninsula is on the coast of Venezuela and is roughly 120 kilometers from America’s main South American partner, Columbia.

According to Die Welt, the clandestine agreement between Venezuela and Iran would mean the Chavez government would fire rocket at Iran’s enemies should the Islamic Republic face military strikes.

Meanwhile the German press agency (DPA) reported on Friday that Germany will not contest the placement of the Hamburg- based European- Iranian Trade Bank (EIH) on the EU sanctions list at the end of the month. The US Treasury Department sanctioned the EIH last year, saying it was one of the most important institutions in Europe for financing Iran’s missile and nuclear proliferation programs. Germany was the subject of criticism from American, French, British and Israeli officials because it refused to shut the EIH.

The EIH plays a crucial role in facilitating financial transactions for midsize German firms that are active in Iran. German- Iranian total trade amounted to over 4 billion euros in 2010, making German Iran’s No. 1 EU trade partner.

 
May
13
2011
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In Case You Missed It… Articles Roundup Week of 5/13/11

In this week’s News Roundup…Hugo Chávez blazes the campaign trail amidst accusations of collaboration between his administration and Colombia’s main rebel terrorist group, FARC. Meanwhile, blackouts and electricity rationing continue to plague Venezuela’s industries and citizens.

Hugo Chávez on campaign trail – again, Financial Times
There may be another year and a half to go, but that hasn’t stopped Hugo Chávez from already starting his campaign for re-election. It is, after all, what he does best – he has won over a dozen elections since coming to power. Ironically, though, the fact that Chávez has spent so much of the past 12 years campaigning – and not enough time solving Venezuela’s problems – may explain why he feels he needs to spend so long this time persuading his people to re-elect him, given that the country’s doggedly persistent problems remain all too evident.

Factbox: Key facts about Colombia’s FARC guerrillas, Reuters
Colombian leftist guerrillas may have tried to assassinate rivals of Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez and trained his supporters in urban warfare, an analysis of thousands of seized rebel documents shows. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, is at its weakest in decades after the deaths of top commanders and a string of desertions prompted by government bounties and improved military intelligence and training. But the rebels remain a potent force in some areas, helped in part by their involvement in the lucrative drug trade and alliances with other armed groups.

Venezuela Asked Colombian Rebels to Kill Opposition Figures, Analysis Shows, The New York Times
Colombia’s main rebel group has an intricate history of collaboration with Venezuelan officials, who have asked it to provide urban guerrilla training to pro-government cells here and to assassinate political opponents of Hugo Chavez, according to a new analysis of the group’s internal communications.

Venezuela begins electricity rationing after blackouts, BBC
Venezuela is rationing electricity after blackouts affected nearly half the country earlier this week. A senior energy ministry said power would be cut off for three hours a day in 19 of the country’s 23 states. The authorities hope the move will help make the distribution system more stable. They say the blackouts were caused by failures in transmission lines. Critics blame the government for not investing enough in new electricity projects. Last year, Venezuela had to cope with rolling blackouts for months.

 
May
11
2011
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Confiscated FARC Files Show Longstanding Ties with Chávez Government

Colombia’s main rebel group and top Chávez government officials – including President Hugo Chávez himself – have a complicated and often turbulent history of cooperation. That is the news making headlines all over the world today, following Tuesday’s unveiling of a study of thousands of files belonging to FARC’s former second in command, Raúl Reyes, that were confiscated in a 2008 raid in Ecuador.

The 240-page analysis, “The FARC Files: Venezuela, Ecuador, and the Secret Archive of Raul Reyes,” was released by London’s International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) after a 2-year investigation of more than 8,000 documents found in eight computer hard drives. In its study, the IISS concluded that:

–Reyes met with President Chávez shortly after he took office in 1999 and offered military and monetary assistance designed to “change the military balance of power in Colombia.”

–The Venezuelan government funded FARC’s office in Caracas and President Chávez allowed the FARC “to use Venezuelan territory for refuge, cross-border operations and political activity, and effectively assigned the group a role in Venezuelan civil society.”

–Two of Mr. Chávez’s main liaisons with the FARC were Ramón Rodríguez Chacín, the number two at Venezuela’s National Intelligence Directorate (Disip) and Freddy Bernal, the former mayor of the municipality of Libertador.

–President Chávez promised $300 million in 2007 to the FARC.

–Following a 2002 coup that briefly ousted Chávez from power, the FARC provided training in guerrilla and urban warfare to various militias that were formed to defend Mr. Chávez.

–In September 2002, FARC’s man in Caracas, Rodrigo Granda, sent a message saying that “Amin,” his contact in Venezuela’s Disip, needed experts in small arms and explosives “to get rid of counter-revolutionaries.” Later that year, opposition members were shot and bombs were planted during public protests against the government.

–A 2002 “Contingency Plan” developed with Chávez’s approval specified that FARC-trained paramilitary forces would be used to “‘attack, neutralize, or liquidate’ opposition supporters, political leaders and resources through sabotage and targeted assassination.”

The Venezuelan strongman has said the documents are fake propaganda aimed at harming his government. The documents, however, have been authenticated by Interpol. Last month, Mr. Chávez admitted publicly that some of his political allies had collaborated with Colombian rebels, but insisted they “went behind all our backs.”

The analysis also details various instances in which President Chávez has betrayed the FARC. In April, Mr. Chávez ordered the extradition to Colombia of Joaquín Pérez, a suspected senior FARC operative who had been living in Sweden.

The IIS analysis also concluded that Ecuador President Rafael Correa – a close personal friend of Mr. Chávez – was directly involved in requesting financial backing from the FARC for his presidential campaign. The IISS study comes at a time when Caracas and Bogotá have dramatically improved their ties after a period of incendiary bilateral relations. Only time will tell how long the honeymoon will last.