Expert: Iran Is Expanding Military, Trade Ties with Leftists in Latin America

Joseph Humire, executive director of the Center for a Secure Free Society (SFS), warned in a report recently published by Diálogo Americas of the role that Iran could be playing in backing terrorist plans worldwide — especially in Latin America, where its influence continues to grow unchecked.

Humire conversed with Diálogo Americas about Iran’s presence, plans, and operations in Latin America, starting with Bolivia, which he has previously described as Iran’s “most successful” project in the region.

Bolivia, through the ruling Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) party, has recently brokered several agreements with the Islamic regime, ranging from the purchase of Iranian-made drones to undisclosed security and defense agreements.

Bolivian Defense Minister Edmundo Novillo, who traveled to Tehran last year, has described Iran as a “model for Bolivia to achieve the freedom of nations.”

Iran has reportedly managed to infiltrate the collaborating local governments’ military, with a “legitimate” military presence in some Latin American countries. Humire referred to Venezuela and Bolivia, two countries that have signed defense agreements with Iran.

“The Venezuelan Armed Forces are the first to have armed drones in their inventory, courtesy of Iran. As well as the shipment of Iranian-made precision-guided short-range missiles, probably to arm the drones,” Humire explained. “All has been delivered under the guise of commercial cargo shipment. This has been Iran’s modus operandi, as it did with Yemen; now we are seeing it in the region.”

The military cooperation was once again confirmed during socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro’s visit to Tehran in 2022, when he met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.

The report also stated that Venezuela’s and Bolivia’s military cooperation with Iran is “only the beginning,” as Nicaraguan dictator Daniel Ortega and Cuba’s figurehead president Miguel Díaz-Canel have explored possible military cooperation with the rogue Islamic regime. Brazil’s far-left President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also recently allowed two Iranian warships to dock in Rio de Janeiro in February 2023, ignoring a request made by United States President Joe Biden to not allow the warships to dock.

The report also makes special mention of the arrest of two suspects in Brazil with ties to the Shiite terrorist organization Hezbollah, also funded by Iran. Local police investigations found that the suspects were preparing terrorist attacks against local Jewish community centers.

Elsewhere in the report, Humire stressed that Iran is seeking to take advantage of old, unresolved historical conflicts to redraw borders and destabilize Latin American democracies. In Venezuela,

Tehran may find an opportunity in the over 120-year-old territorial dispute over the Essequibo, which currently represents two-thirds of Guyana. In recent months, the socialist regime of dictator Nicolás Maduro has reignited the feud with threats of invading Guyana and annexing the contested region.

“This is the experiment. If it goes well, others will follow,” Humire asserted.

Humire continued by stating that China, Russia, and Iran have joined forces in the region with the intention to impose a new world order, of which the authoritarian regimes of Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and the socialist government in Bolivia are the main players. Iran, he contended, is playing a leading role in this plan.

“After the collapse of the Soviet Union these three countries had a network in Latin America. Iran immediately came to pick up some of those pieces; China came later, but did the same, as Russia did as well, and instead of competing they ended up working together,” Humire explained. “Today, in terms of synchronization, there is no region in the world where these three countries have greater penetration than in Latin America.”

“Iran would not be what it is today without China’s support, and China will hardly succeed without Iran’s help,” he continued. “When China takes off the red panda mask it’s wearing, we will see its true interests. In the meantime, let Iran do the dirty work.”

Humire remarked that Iran’s relations with Latin America began in 1979 with the arrival of the Islamic revolution, resulting in friendly ties with communist Cuba and Nicaragua. Since then, the report stated, Iran has intensified its relations and has “penetrated the region through various strategies.”

“Iran’s ambition is to have influence and military presence as it has in the Middle East,” Humire said. “Obviously we are talking about another part of the world, where getting to that level will take time, but all indications are that it is heading in that direction.”

Humire also stressed that “under the assumption of commercial exchanges, Iran has been infiltrating spies, subversive actors, and weapons.”

To exemplify, Diálogo Americas highlighted the 1994 bombing of the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA), which killed 85 people. The AMIA bombing, which counted with Iran’s involvement, was the deadliest terrorist attack in the Western Hemisphere prior to the September 11, 2001, attacks.

“In the late 1980s Iran enjoyed a privileged relationship with Argentina for beef exports,” Humire said. “Iran saw this as an opportunity to infiltrate spies posing as cultural attachés who came to ensure that the meat complied with Islamic ‘halal’ dietary certification, but they really came to support the financial and logistical mechanism that enabled the attack perpetrated by Hezbollah.”

Argentina’s former two-time President and one-time vice president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who maintained close ties to Iran, was accused of having attempted to cover up Iran’s involvement in the AMIA bombing attack.

In 2015, Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who was leading the AMIA bombing coverup investigation, was found dead the night before the corresponding congressional hearings, where his written documents indicated he would directly implicate Fernández de Kirchner. Argentine authorities ruled his death a “suicide.”

The case against Fernández de Kirchner was controversially dismissed in October 2021.

Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.