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Background Information

1. Since Ahmadinejad was elected president in August 2005, Iran has extended and solidified its relations with several Latin American countries, especially Venezuela and Bolivia, and increased its efforts to obtain a political foothold in the others. According to findings brought before the American Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Iran has significantly increased its diplomatic representation in Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Argentina and Brazil. It was also reported that since 2005 Iran has increased the number of its embassies in Latin America from five to 11, and set up 17 "cultural centers" as well.2

2. The common factors in the increasingly close relations between Iran and some of the Latin American countries are their anti-American ideologies and policies, and their desire to present a revolutionary alternative to what they perceive as American imperialism. Iran exploits those relations to strengthen its foothold in Latin America (also employing Hezbollah), to establish a presence and gain political, economic, cultural and religious influence. As in other areas of the world, in Latin America Iran employs terrorism and subversion, and works to instill radical Shi´ite Islamic ideology into the local Muslim communities.

3. Iran´s increased activity in Latin America is part of its global strategy, whose objectives go far beyond the desire for hegemony in the Middle East. Iran regards itself as hemmed in by the United States and its allies, stubbornly pursues the nuclear crisis with the West, and seeks to present the United States with a revolutionary challenge in its own backyard by exploiting its relative advantages with countries and populaces in Latin American: Iran´s anti-American ideology and rhetoric fall on willing ears; Iranian petrodollars, which can be used for political and propaganda purposes; and a Muslim large population, some of it Lebanese, living in key Latin American countries.

4. Iran´s interests and objectives in Latin America are the following:

1) Politics and strategy: Iran has found ideological-political sympathy in a number of Latin American countries, which may enable it to escape from its increasing political isolation and strengthen the so-called "resistance camp" it leads (including Syria, Hezbollah, and Palestinian terrorist organizations). Iran also regards Latin America as good area for defiance and also for challenging the United States in various ways: increased political and military collaboration, economic infiltration and extensive activities to disseminate Shi´ite Islam and eventually export the Islamic revolution to Latin America.

2) Economics: Iran focuses on economic relations with Latin American countries regarding energy and oil, and strives to increase them to help it circumvent the sanctions which have been imposed on it. Thus Iran´s relations with Venezuela enable it to coordinate prices with a large oil exporter like itself (Iran and Venezuela are respectively the fourth and fifth largest oil exporters in the world). In addition, Iran wants to exploit uranium deposits in Venezuela and other Latin American countries (in 2009 Venezuela publicly stated that Iran was helping it explore for uranium.) However, Iranian-Latin American economic collaboration is still limited and a relatively small factor in Iran´s overall trade.

3) Harming Israel´s political relations with Latin America countries: One example was the terminating of Israeli-Venezuelan and Israeli- Bolivian relations during Operation Cast Lead. In addition, Iran´s close relations with Venezuela and other countries creates an internal political atmosphere and even infrastructure (encouraged by Iranian propaganda) to harm the Jewish communities in those countries (where, as in other parts of the world, often no distinction is made between anti-Israel policy and harming and Jewish communities).

4) Constructing secret intelligence and terrorist networks: Those networks give Iran operational-terrorist options, using the Quds Force and other bodies, to launch terrorist activities against Israel and the United States, both routinely and as the order of the day. Iran exploits the subversive and terrorist capabilities of Hezbollah, which undertakes extensive activity in Latin America and has increased its presence there while engaging in drug-trafficking and other crimes.

Limitations of Iran´s Political Power in Latin America

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