Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced on Sunday that his country is interested in pursuing nuclear technology. Chavez said he would enlist the help of Iran in developing nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Venezuela possesses vast oil and natural gas reserves, substantial coal reserves, and ample hydroelectric power. Therefore it is not unreasonable to regard Venezuela’s nuclear ambitions as highly suspect.
Venezuela is one of the founding members of OPEC and is strongly aligned with the Islamic oil producing nations of the Middle East. President Hugo Chavez has repeatedly defended Iran in its dispute with the United States and Europe over its nuclear program, saying Iran has a right to atomic energy. Iran claims its nuclear program is for peaceful energy purposes, but ample evidence exists contradicting those claims and the United States believes that Iran is attempting to obtain nuclear weapons.
Under the leadership of Hugo Chavez, Venezuela suffers from increasing political turmoil. Before President Chavez came to power in 1998, oil-rich Venezuela was a wealthy nation and one of South America's oldest democracies. This wealth attracted a large influx of poor immigrants from neighboring Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and the Caribbean. The poor became increasingly resentful of the wealthy and middle class. Chavez, who had been imprisoned for a failed coup in 1992 but was later released, became the champion of the poor during the 1998 elections.
Chavez won the election with 56 percent of the vote. Upon taking office, he immediately embraced Cuba's communist leader, Fidel Castro, as Venezuela's chief ally, called Iraq's Saddam Hussein his "brother", aligned himself with Libya's Moammar Qadaffi, and formed alliances with North Korea's Kim Yong-Il and then Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
Chavez once summed up his political views in a national radio address by saying "I am convinced, that the path to a new, better and possible world, is not capitalism, the path is socialism."
Venezuela is emerging as a potential hub of terrorism in the Western Hemisphere, providing assistance to Islamic radicals from the Middle East and other terrorists. Middle Eastern terrorist groups are operating cells in Venezuela, including support cells for organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah. Thousands of Venezuelan identity documents are being distributed to foreigners from Middle Eastern nations, including Syria, Pakistan, Egypt, and Lebanon. For those familiar with this history, President Chavez's intentions to pursue nuclear technology should raise immediate concerns.
