It shouldn't come as much of a surprise. North Korea's got them. Iran probably does. So another America-hater, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, wants nuclear weapons, too.
A Bush administration official monitoring Latin America said Chavez is making overtures to Iran, seeking closer ties between the two countries. So far, officials say there is no clear evidence that Venezuela is actively pursuing the technology to create nuclear weapons. But Chavez is following the familiar path that others have taken in pursuit of nuclear weapons.
Chavez, who is not a Muslim, had no other logical reason to travel to Iran. Chavez and the ayatollahs of Iran only have one thing in common – they both hate America and desire nuclear weapons to keep the U.S. at bay while they follow their own anti-American policy agendas.
Chavez has been infected with the same disease that Fidel Castro and Chez Guevara had in the last half of the 20th century. It was no coincidence that Chavez recently formed an alliance with Cuba's Fidel Castro. This seems to be setting off danger alarms all over Washington.
Pentagon officials say that Chavez is developing neighborhood militias. They're modeled after Cuba's Communist apparatus, and their primary purpose is to maintain iron-fisted control. This is the first stage of a typical Communist total takeover of a country.
Intelligence reports indicate that Venezuela has begun taking delivery of more than 100,000 Russian-made AK-47s, some of which will be used to arm the militias. It's also ramping up production of small-arms rounds that the Bush administration fears will be shipped to rebels in democratic parts of Latin America. So it looks like we have the Castro-Guevara "revolutionary fever" aflame again in Latin America.
And since the U.S. has heavily depended upon Venezuelan crude oil since 1948, this is a serious development indeed.
So, how can we assess this new threat? There is certainly enough evidence to be concerned that Chavez is indeed seeking nuclear offensive weapons.
Chavez visited Tehran last year and held a series of meetings with the ruling theocrats. He then began a campaign of support for Iran's quest for a huge nuclear industry.
As part of this campaign, Chavez recently gave an interview to al-Jazeera TV. In it, he was asked if he feared being deposed by Washington like Saddam Hussein was. Chavez replied, "I am on the defensive because attack is the best form of defense. We are waging an offensive battle. Yesterday, in Tehran, the spiritual guide Khamenei told me a true statement, 'power, power.'" And by that, he meant military offensive power.
It appears Chavez is courting Tehran to get access to their nuclear weaponry, which I am sure is not far off in coming. Iran's mullahs are dealing with him because of the Muslim doctrine, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." It is surely in Iran's strategic interests for the U.S. to have to deal with a nuclear-armed revolutionary troublemaker in its own hemisphere.
This is also delighting the ayatollahs, because it further tightens the noose around the American economy to have a strategic crude-oil supplier like Venezuela turn against it.
So if Chavez announces that he is going to be building some nuclear reactors to supply Venezuela's power needs, I hope the U.S. will not stand by and let that fraud take place as we did with Iran. Venezuela, like Iran, is awash in oil. Like Iran, Venezuela needs nuclear energy for "peaceful purposes" like fish need raincoats.
It is almost too late to stop Iran's mad dash for nuclear weapons. Let's not make the same mistake of allowing another America-hater get the drop on us. Especially one that is so close to our borders.