The Chavez –Ahmadinejad Alliance:
The ‘Axis of Evil’ Gains an ‘Auxiliary Axis’
Dr. Constantine Menges’ predictions of a Cuba-Venezuela-Iran “axis of evil” to dominate Latin America takes on new significance in light of the fact that this axis is now being complemented with an “auxiliary axis” of leftist rulers, who play the role of “useful moderates” in order to tranquilize public opinion and dampen reactions, thus paving the way for the “axis of evil” to advance.
1. On the 13th of January, Iran president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Caracas and announced, with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, that they were creating a $2 billion “heavy-duty strategic fund” to be used as a “liberation mechanism” to help leftist governments on the continent “liberate themselves from the imperialist yoke” (cf. Granma, Havana, 01/16/ 2007).
Ahmadinejad also traveled to Quito and Managua to attend the inauguration ceremonies for presidents Correa and Ortega. He promised them abundant financial aid in exchange for aligning their countries with the Venezuela-Iran axis.
2. The Iranian president’s recent trip plus accords signed with the Venezuelan president bring back to the fore the predictions made in 2002 by the late Dr. Constantine Menges, a researcher for the Hudson Institute and professor at George Washington University. He warned of the formation of a Latin-American “axis of evil” with the active participation of Venezuela and Cuba supported by Iran to dominate Latin America and separate it from the United States.
The radical left, which has long resorted to kidnappings and armed robberies to finance its revolution, can now count on immensely greater resources, namely Iranian and Venezuelan oil profits.
3. The predictions of Dr. Menges, who died in July of 2004, can now be complemented with the emergence of an “auxiliary axis” of leftist rulers who play the role of “useful moderates” to dampen wholesome reactions and pave the way for the first “axis of evil.” Among the principal members of this new “auxiliary axis” are found President Lula da Silva of Brazil and Argentina’s President Nestor Kirchner.
4. With the newly-signed accords between President Chavez and President Ahmadinejad, Latin America can become in the short or medium term a new political, financial and perhaps even military extension of the conflicts now raging in the Middle East.
5. All this, however, should not serve as reasons for writing off Latin America but as incentives for supporting conservative reactions there. It is true that conservative and center-right sectors in the Americas are far from having anything like the resources of the Muslim-Left alliance mentioned above. However, they do have capital even more valuable from a certain standpoint: the vast Latin-American public whose overwhelming majority does not share leftist ideas and is ready to support responsible and honest leaders who interpret its just aspirations. This is what has been shown in a recent survey by Latinobarómetro, whose results were published in the last issue of LulaWatch.
Related Lula-Watches:
Lula: A “Useful Moderate” At the Service of Chavez?
If Lenin were alive today he might prefer calling someone a “useful moderate” rather than his classic “useful idiot.” This is the role President Lula plays in Latin America today. Whether he is really a moderate is debatable, but there’s no doubt he’s useful at the service of Castro’s successor, Hugo Chavez.