Monday, June 29, 2009

Emerging Russian and Iranian Interest in Latin America

By Jerry Brewer

Communist posturing and maneuvering throughout Latin America over the past decades left significant and potentially permanent scars for democratic freedoms.  And subversive influence and activities throughout the region continue to emerge in images of a past cold war and sinister specter.

Prior Soviet and Communist involvement in the Western Hemisphere was widely believed to have a chief mission in disrupting the democratic Pan American system and destroying US influence.  Too, the decade of the 1970s witnessed billions of dollars being spent by the Soviets to support Marist-Leninist guerrillas on the African continent, and the airlifting 20,000 Cuban troops in support of rebel forces. 

In Nicaragua, the Sandinistas were described as “pro-Cuban, pro Soviet, and repressive Soviet puppets.”  The Contras were seen as the “liberators of the oppressed people of Nicaragua.”

Meanwhile, then President Fidel Castro exhorted leftists throughout the regions to initiate and pursue a course of violent insurgency. Cuba was utilized as a strategic post for its military and intelligence facilities for espionage against the US.  The initial indicators and smoking gun of this evidence was clearly demonstrated by the surreptitious placing of intermediate-range nuclear missiles on the Cuban island.

Soviet influence found its way into Mexico in 1971, and the Mexican government tossed out five Soviet diplomats after support of guerrilla training of Mexican dissidents was discovered.  Within that period three Soviet embassy officials were expelled in Quito, Ecuador for “meddling in labor problems.”

Now it appears that Russia, in part at least, is motivated by a desire to regain the international influence it lost with the collapse of the former Soviet Union.  There have been aggressive efforts by the government to control a formerly, somewhat relaxed, independent media, and plans to regulate the widely popular and free internet.  Similar oversight and restrictions of internet usage are being initiated in Iran and Communist China.  Many of these “cyber dissidents” and journalists have been imprisoned.  Russia is being described as “increasingly authoritarian at home and aggressive abroad.”

Of equal concern for the southern western hemisphere is the quest for influence by the Iranian government.  Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has stated, “I’m concerned about the level of, frankly, subversive activity the Iranians are carrying on in a number of places in Latin America, particularly South and Central America.”  Further, he said, “They’re opening a lot of offices and fronts behind from which they interfere with what is going on in some of these countries.”

A deteriorating security environment within Latin America, as well as attacks on the independence of the media, is clearly an attack upon freedom that breeds continued oppression against citizens.  In Venezuela in particular, a survey found that Venezuela had suffered “the largest single decline in media independence.”

Intelligence activities by the Russians are currently a major strategic initiative within the hemisphere.  These activities, other than trade negotiations, designed to take advantage of anti-US sentiments and continuous observation of the main political and economic trends.  Communist leadership and control in the trade unions is prevalent.  Russia now has one of the most active roles in Latin America since the previous Soviet regime.  A spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that Russia is “increasing our presence in Latin America.”

Venezuela has purchased billions of dollars of weapons from Russia in recent years.  Military relations with Nicaragua and Bolivia have also been strengthened.  The former leader of the Sandinista government in Nicaragua who is once again president, Daniel Ortega, who also received military aid from the Soviet Union in the 1980s, recently said he plans to “strengthen ties with Russia.”  Bolivia, citing a need to fight against drug traffickers, has been seeking to close a deal with Russia for helicopters, logistical support, and military training.

The irony of arming a revolutionary conflict in Latin America was graphically brought forward by Fidel Castro, after the armed struggle failed to topple the government of Venezuela in 1965, with the Soviet leadership proclaiming the need for a “peaceful road to socialism.”  Fidel Castro had professed that armed force “is necessary for the transition to communism."  The Soviet Union was quick to provide the assistance and weapons through Cuba to various insurgent and other leftist groups throughout Latin America.

What are Russia's real plans in future policy towards this hemisphere?  What are Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s reasons and intentions for his travels to the region?  A quick history lesson may provide the answers for the future.  The threat of terrorism is also alive on the continent, especially with Hezbollah’s presence.  We can probably surmise that democracy will continue to become scarce.

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Jerry Brewer is C.E.O. of Criminal Justice International Associates, a global risk mitigation firm headquartered in Miami, Florida.  His website is located at www.cjiausa.org.