LATIN AMERICA AFTER OBAMA’S “COUNTERING IRAN IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE ACT” (at The Asian World)

(Publised at The Asian World)

On December 28th last year, USA President Barak Obama signed “The countering Iran in the western Hemisphere Act” which states that “it is U.S. policy to use a comprehensive strategy to counter Iran’s growing hostile presence in the Western Hemisphere by working together with U.S. allies and partners in the region to deter threats to U.S. interests by Iran, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the IRGC’s Qods Force, and Hezbollah”.

Now, the State Department should design a series of political and diplomatic strategies within the next 180 days in order to describe “the presence, activities, and operations of Iran, the IRGC, the IRGC’s Qods Force, and Hezbollah” and to make a plan “to address efforts by foreign persons, entities, and governments in the region to assist Iran in evading sanctions, to protect U.S. interests, assets, and allies in the Western Hemisphere, to support U.S. efforts to designate persons and entities in the Western Hemisphere for proliferation and terrorist activities relating to Iran, and to address vital U.S. interests in ensuring energy supplies from the Western Hemisphere.”

Although these strategies are confidential, there should be a public summary of them.

The North America country is showing concern about the presence of Iran in Latin America since a time ago.

In July 2011, according to the daily press briefing of the US Department of State, the spokesperson Mark Tonner had said that they “are aware of Iran’s interest and engagement in the Western Hemisphere, and continue to monitor these relationships closely”. During the last years, the Iran president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, had made several trips to Latin America. Also Iran increased the embassies in the region from 5 to 11. So, from a total of 20 countries in Latin America, Iran has embassy in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Even they are the same continent, the different countries proceed in different ways about USA and Iran.

The text of the resolution signed by Obama affirmed that “Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Venezuela expressed their intention to assist Iran in evading sanctions by signing a statement supporting Iran’s nuclear activities and announcing at a 2010 joint press conference in Tehran their determination to ‘continue and expand their economic ties to Iran’ with confidence that ‘Iran can give a crushing response to the threats and sanctions imposed by the West and imperialism’”.

The Venezuelan President, Hugo Chávez, who is now recovering after a surgery in Cuba, defines himself as an anti-imperialist and shows explicit support to Iran. Together with Cuba they were the Latin America countries who have supported Iran’s nuclear program in a February 2006 vote at the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency. Chávez and Ahmadinejad embrace the idea of independence from the great powers, primarily the United States.

On the other hand, the chancellors from Argentina (Héctor Timerman) and from Iran (Ali Akbar Salehi) were keeping a series of meeting in Geneva and Zurich in order to find a legal resolution to the Cause AMIA, the bombing of a Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires occurred in 1994 that caused 85 deaths. In 2006, an Argentine tribunal formally accused to the country Iran and Hezbollah of being the planners of the attack. Now the Argentine Government is keeping meeting with both victim’s families and Iran representations.

Each Latin American country will react different to the Obama’s law. After those 180 days, when the strategies are made, each country will take part according to its own Government interests and foreign politics.