The Hezbollah-Latin America Conspiracy

Moving away from the United States onto some older stuff I didn’t get the chance to comment on during Nov. and the first part of December.

 Ayman Joumaa, a Lebanese citizen who has laundered millions of dollars for Hezbollah while assisting with cocaine-trafficking routes out of Colombia and Venezuela. It appears his focus was routes through Europe, but he has also moved drugs through Mexico in coordination with the Zetas.

 Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/Latin-America-Monitor/2011/1215/Hezbollah-terrorist-financing-and-Venezuela-Don-t-panic.

As the CSM story indicated these have all the buzzwords that cause terrorism analysts sleepless nights and give fiction writers their latest bestsellers. But how realistic is the threat? Hezbollah has made a career of operations like the ones outlined above within Latin America, as explained in the recently published Black Market Billons:
 http://www.amazon.com/Black-Market-Billions-Organized-Terrorists/dp/0132180243/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325020167&sr=8-1

This does not automatically mean that Chavez and Hezbollah are in bed together. Further, it would make little sense for Chavez to allow any organized activity to take place on Venezuelan soil because it creates a Pakistan type problem where you train operatives for operations in a foreign land, but if your zone of action should dry up, there’s insurgent elements that may reek havoc on the homeland.

 Surely, no government would be stupid enough to follow Pakistan’s example?

America’s "Favorite" Sandinista is Back

Daniel Ortega- America’s favorite Sandinista has won a disputed presidential election in Nicaragua. Ortega has been an on again, off again, thorn in the United States side since Reagan. Ortega’s latest re-election bid has created much controversy throughout the international community and Nicaragua itself.

 The Nicaraguan constitution Article 147 prohibits a candidate from seeking more than two consecutive terms. That hurdle was cleared when a Sandinista judge gave him the go ahead.Meanwhile, there were allegations of false vote totals, voter intimidation, and electoral theft.

All in all, it appears as though the democracy project has backslidden into a corrupt mud with Mr. Ortega’s victory and that’s something that no person, who truly has a love for freedom and democracy wants to see.

An Ortega victory, by whatever means indicates yet another rejection of United States policy within the region. Given our less than stellar record in Latin America, it shouldn’t be surprising when the people elect someone we can’t stand. Either way sad day for democracy.