Posted on 01/01/2003 2:59:12 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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Transcript of House Western Hemipshere Subcommittee Hearing, October 10, 2001***(J. Curtis Struble, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, U.S. Department of State)…………….. Further south, in what is known as the tri-border area, where Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay converge, we see the longstanding presence of Islamic extremist organizations, primarily Hizballah and, to a lesser extent, the Sunni extremists group of al Gamaat, IG, and Hamas. These organizations are involved in fundraising activities and proselytizing among the large expatriate population from the Middle East that lives in the tri-border area and also on Venezuela's Margarita Island. These organizations engage in document forgery, money laundering, contraband smuggling, and weapons and drug trafficking. Hizballah is the prime suspect behind the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires and the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israel Mutual Association community center. These attacks were characterized by the same faceless cowardice that we saw on September 11, and they remain unsolved to this day, although I am pleased that the trial in the 1994 bombing is now underway in Buenos Aires. We hope the perpetrators will at last be brought to justice.
……………..In the tri-border area of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, Middle East terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hizballah train terrorists and conduct fundraising activities in an area which has a growing population of Middle Eastern and South Asian immigrants. Funds raised in the tri-border area are sent directly to the Middle East to support the operation of these organization, possibly even the planning and execution of terrorist acts. I have no doubt that funds raised in the tri-border area have made it to the pockets of Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden. Afghanistan produces 75 percent of the world's heroin. The Taliban reaps tremendous profits from such trade and use them to sponsor Osama Bin Laden and other terrorists. As Americans, we must recognize that fighting the war on drugs is tantamount to fighting the war on terrorism. Every time an American boy buys cocaine or heroin, they are directly funding the terrorists who are responsible for the deaths of over 6,000 innocent Americans.
Today, the Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere will hear from a distinguished panel of official witnesses who will provide us with important testimony about the type of terrorist organizations operating in our hemisphere, the links between international terror and drug trafficking, and the efforts of the OAS and its member states to help our nation win the war on terrorism. While I have no doubt that these panelists will provide the Subcommittee with excellent testimony, I am profoundly troubled that Otto Reich has yet to be confirmed as the Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs. At this time, the President needs to have his nominee confirmed and in place to fight both drug trafficking and terrorism in Latin America.
……………..Mr. STRUBLE. There are large expatriate populations in a number of areas in Latin America. The tri-border region has been mentioned before. There is also Santa Margarita Island in Venezuela, the Colon Free Trade Zone in Panama, and then a number of others throughout the hemisphere. We are quite concerned about the possibility or in some instances the certainty of financial transactions from these areas supporting terrorist groups in the Middle East. Mr. Mack alluded before to the efforts of INL over a number of years to give countries the tools, help them develop the tools, and work multilaterally in this hemisphere to control money laundering through more effective sharing of financial transaction information.****
FReegards...MUD
FReegards...MUD
Good!! Chavez makes me sick to my stomach...MUD
I have my doubts about it, because requires Chavez to blab to people whom he has no particular reason to trust with such information.
My point is that Chavez would have to be unusually chatty with certain people who were NOT in the real inner circle in order for these folks to learn anything.
It wouldn't surprise me to learn Chavez wants to support al-Qaeda. But this story is a little too neatly tied together for my taste.
He was elected democratically. That's why you don't SEE anything being done to counter it.
This'll be handled covertly. If he took power in a military coup we could be more overt about it. But since he was elected fair and square we have to at least pretend to accept the people's will.
Close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, and atomic bombs :o)
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