'Axis of Unity' in Latin America Could Be Growing Threat for the U.S.

foxnews.com ^ | March 04, 2008 | Kelley Vlahos

[Tailgunner Joe]

Since 2001, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez have indulged in a high-profile friendship. They bask in their cozy camaraderie, and they have openly invited other Latin American countries, including Nicaragua, Cuba and Bolivia, to join their anti-American fraternity.

Ahmadinejad and Chavez have called themselves the "Axis of Unity." Some security experts call them something else: a potential threat to American security.

"There are two things they have in common – one is their hatred of the United States, and the second is oil," says Roger Noriega, former assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs for the Bush Administration.

"They are clearly cooperating with one another to sort of generate anti-American feeling in the Americas."

And they're using their oil money to do it.

Iran's warming relationship with Venezuela has generated nearly 200 bilateral agreements, including increased cooperation between the two in the financial, metals and oil industries.

Ahmadinejad has also welcomed Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega to Iran on several occasions and pledged to rebuild a $350 million sea port on Monkey Bay on Nicaragua's Caribbean coast. Ahmadinejad has even pledged a $1 billion investment package to the socialist government of Evo Morales in Bolivia.

Chavez, too, has courted his Latin American neighbors by pledging lavish monetary gifts and oil.

In a recent address from the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, Chavez urged Nicaragua, Bolivia and Cuba to "put together a common defense strategy and create our armed force" against the United States. ...

Noriega and Otto Reich, former U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela... and former Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs... say they are concerned that the Chavez-Ahmadinejad alliance could enable the two countries to conspire to give Iran a strategic military toehold in the Americas, or to work clandestinely to advance Tehran's nuclear program.

[PeterFinn]

'Axis of Unity' in Latin America Could Be Growing Target for the U.S.

There, that's better.

[utherdoul]

Latin America needs to get whipped back into shape even if we have to draw troops out of other regions to do it. I wouldn’t be worried about a brush fire in the middle east when we’ve got a wild fire in our proverbial back yard.

[rjp2005]

The Axis of Socialism will continue to grow I think during more Clinton years.

[himno hero]

Latin Ameria? A threat? HA

What are they going to do? Export more poverty, drugs, illiteracy and unemployment?

[goldfinch]

And they're using their oil money to do it.

Which is why I support research and development of alternative power.

[Steely Tom]

They want to wreck their economies and it’s a threat to us? How?

[Zeppo]

Ahmadinejad and Chavez have called themselves the "Axis of Unity."

Axis of Fools would be more like it...

[Zeppo]

Or even Axis of Lunacy...

[xkaydet65]

A concerted effort to either develop new domestic petro supplies or an effort to develop entirely new sources of energy, hyrogen etc., or redeveloping our nuke capacity will take the big stick out of the hands of our enemies. Developing and sharing new technologies like hydrogen would take petro money out of the equation for Venezuela, Iran, and the resurrected USSR.

[Americanexpat]

Both these a$$holes in Venezuela and Iran have been begging us to come kick their a$$es I think before all this is over one of them is going to get his wish if not both.

[vpintheak]

Threat, no. Pain in our rear end, yes.

[Paleo Conservative]

Chavez is going to have a hard time sustaining oil production in Venezuela. His policies and fear of what Chavez may do in the future is driving the middle class professionals away from Venezuela.