It is no exaggeration to say that Venezuela's burgeoning alliance with Iran represents the greatest threat to hemispheric stability since the Cold War. Both governments have supported international terrorist groups operating in South America (including Hezbollah). Both have embraced other terror-sponsoring regimes (such as Syria). Both have initiated an arms buildup. Both have pursued close military cooperation with Russia. Both share a visceral anti-Americanism and are committed to...

A report published Tuesday by the Anti-Defamation League has documented what it calls "greater acceptance of virulent anti-Jewish attitudes" in Spain, despite relatively low levels of actual violence directed against Jews. The report cited "viciously anti-Semitic" cartoons which have appeared in several major newspapers, alongside editorials comparing Israel to Nazi Germany, which is defined by even the European Union media watchdog as anti-Semitic. The report also noted...

Being a buffoon can buy a lot of time in international politics-you can do naughty things for a long while before people begin to take them seriously. This is the case of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, whose relationship with Iran was the subject of a recent presentation by Robert Morgenthau, the legendary Manhattan district attorney. Based on his office’s investigations, third-party collaboration and snippets of public information, Morgenthau concludes that Venezuela and Iran are...

Some analysts fear that military cooperation between Brazil and France may change the strategic balance in Latin America. In recent months, tension has grown in the region because of arms purchases by Venezuela's flamboyant President Hugo Chavez from Russia, and the accord signed by Colombia and the United States that allows the US to use Colombian military bases. Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim defended his nation's recent shopping spree by saying that its new nuclear submarine will...

DEBATES in Washington about Hugo Chávez often end with the dismissive conclusion that the Venezuelan strongman poses no threat to the United States. If that's right, it's not because he isn't trying. For years he has been traveling the world in an effort to build alliances with present or former U.S. enemies, from Cuba to Vietnam. He dreams of standing at the head of a global anti-American military alliance. Most of his efforts have been rebuffed; some have produced mere buffoonery,...

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s nomination last month of Ahmad Vahidi as defense minister starkly illustrates the danger posed by Iran’s Latin America penetration. Vahidi is wanted by Interpol in connection with the truck bombing of the Argentine-Israelite Mutual Association in Buenos Aires 15 years ago that killed 85 people and wounded more than 300. Argentine investigators accuse Iran of planning and financing this attack and Hezbollah of executing it. Responding to...

The diplomatic ties between Iran and Venezuela go back almost 50 years and until recently amounted to little more than the routine exchange of diplomats. With the election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005, the relationship dramatically changed. Today Mr. Ahmadinejad and Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez have created a cozy financial, political and military partnership rooted in a shared anti-American animus. Now is the time to develop policies in this country to ensure...

Astroll through Aventura Mall over the weekend ended up depressing me after I ran into an old friend's parents who told me about the misfortunes and dilemmas Jews currently face in Venezuela. Miami is the exile capital for Venezuelan Jews, just as it has been for Cuban Jews, or "Jewbans." I predict the time will come when we'll be called "Venejews." There are similarities between both groups. As it happened in Cuba under Fidel Castro, the number of Jews in Venezuela has...

The Aug. 13 editorial " " asserted that it would be "counterproductive" for the United States to let human rights concerns hold up the release of funds to support Mexico's fight against drug cartels. In fact, the opposite is true. Human rights abuses are a major obstacle to Mexico's efforts to strengthen public security and contain drug-related violence. By abusing civilians, Mexican soldiers have contributed to the climate of lawlessness and violence in which drug cartels...

A Mexican market stall holder accused of kidnapping six federal agents has been adopted as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International. Mother of six Jacinta Francisco Marcial, 46, an Otomí Indigenous woman from Santiago Mexquititlán, Querétaro state, has been sentenced to 21 years in prison. Amnesty International said she has been denied a fair trial and is in prison solely due to her marginal status in society as a poor Indigenous woman with limited access to...