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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| 2 lawmakers say Venezuela belongs on U.S. terror list |
| 2010-01-09 |
| Citing ``overwhelming'' evidence and recent federal reports that confirm growing ties between Venezuela and international drug trafficking networks, Republican members of Congress have this week asked the Obama administration to put the oil-producing country on the list of nations that require monitoring because they pose a security risk. In separate statements, Florida's Reps. Connie Mack and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen cited, among other reasons, the relationship between Caracas and the Islamic regime in Iran and with the FARC rebels in Colombia, both considered by the United States as entities that sponsor global terrorism. Mack, who represents a district in Fort Myers, said that ``the evidence that links Venezuela with some of the most dangerous terrorist organizations is overwhelming.'' He cited the refusal of the government of President Hugo Chávez to implement in Venezuelan airports the measures demanded by the Transportation Security Administration. He also said that evidence exists that agents from FARC, Hamas and Hezbollah ``operate with few restrictions in Venezuela'' and that many of those agents use Venezuelan passports to travel abroad. ``There is no doubt that the potential threat to [U.S.] security from Venezuela is extremely high,'' Mack stated, at the same time he demanded that the Obama administration include Venezuela on the list of terrorist-sponsoring nations ``without delay.'' This is not the first time that Mack has promoted this type of initiative. On Oct. 28, 2009, he introduced a resolution in Congress, together with his fellow congressman from Florida Ron Klein, to include Venezuela on the list of terrorism sponsors. That proposal had gone nowhere, until now. For her part, Rep. Ros-Lehtinen cited DEA reports that demonstrate a Venezuelan connection in a new alliance formed between the FARC and al Qaeda, in which the oil producing nation plays the part of a ``massive airport for the use of the traffickers.'' ``It is no surprise that Hugo Chávez allows Venezuela to serve as a massive airport for the use of traffickers. In fact the DEA has said that all the planes captured in West Africa left from Venezuela,'' Ros-Lehtinen said. She explained that the recent arrest of three African agents of al Qaeda after a drug smuggling operation showed a new panorama of cooperation between Islamic extremist groups and those of South American narco-guerrillas. ``Groups like the FARC are finding new ways to sell drugs in Europe by means of al Qaeda in Africa. And al Qaeda is more than willing to use the drug trade to help finance its extremist agenda,'' Ros-Lehtinen said. She said that Washington has to work together with other European, African and Latin-American countries to confront this threat. ``Burying our heads in the sand is not an option,'' she said. The statements of the members of Congress generated an immediate reaction among Venezuelan elected officials who support Chávez. Roy Daza, president of the Foreign Relations Commission of the National Assembly, criticized Mack and said that he is ``looking to tarnish the reputation of Venezuela and is using lies to attack the Bolivarian revolution.'' Another Chavista deputy, Saúl Ortega, labeled Mack as ``insolent'' and stated that he ``is acting in a fascist manner in order to discredit our country.'' Ortega added that Mack's opinion ``does not represent the political will of the Congress of the United States,'' according to the Bolivarian News Agency. |
| Posted by:Steve White |