When President Barack Obama was criticized for his over friendly interaction with Hugo Chavez during the Summit of the Americas, he responded by saying that the U.S. has nothing to fear from a country that has an economy six hundred times smaller than ours. This curious remark by our President brings another logical question to mind: how big is Al Qaeda's economy in comparison to ours? It is likely that Al Qaeda's assets are substantially smaller than oil-rich Venezuela's. Likewise, Iran's...

It is clear to all but the most blinkered observer that Iran's recent presidential election was a sham. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's fraudulent "victory" over challenger Mir Hussein Mousavi, and the violence that followed, confirmed that the Islamic Republic is a brutal police state that crushes dissenting voices. Most governments around the world have refused to congratulate Ahmadinejad, realizing that such a gesture would merely legitimize the stolen election and discourage the...

Conference Call with Rep. Connie Mack (R-FL) Ranking Member of the House of Representatives, Foreign Affairs Committee, Subcommitee on the Western Hemisphere Rep. Connie Mack (R-FL) Connie Mack was elected to his third term in the United States Congress in November of 2008 to represent Florida's 14th Congressional District. He currently serves on three committees -- Transportation and Infrastructure; Foreign Affairs; and Budget -- allowing him to effectively represent the needs of Southwest...

Conference Call with Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) Chairman of the House of Representatives, Foreign Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere Rep. Eliot Engel Congressman Engel serves on the Energy and Commerce Committee including the Subcommittees on Health, and Energy and the Environment. He also serves on the Foreign Affairs Committee and is the Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, as well as serving on the Subcommittee on Europe, and the Subcommittee on the...

US President Barack Obama underestimates the threat Iran poses to global security. Were this not the case, he would not have sent CIA Director Leon Panetta to Israel ahead of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's visit to the White House. Panetta was reportedly dispatched here to read the government the riot act. Israel, he reportedly told his interlocutors, must not attack Iran without first receiving permission from Washington. Moreover, Israel should keep its mouth shut about attacking Iran....

Following the recently concluded Summit of the Americas held April 17-19, in Trinidad and Tobago, President Barack Obama claimed that the U.S. defense budget was 600 times greater than that of Venezuela. While it is true that, in conventional warfare, a Venezuelan victory over this country is totally beyond any credulity, the question remains regarding how much relative military strength does Venezuela actually project. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is widely acknowledged as...

Iran’s leader will not be visiting Latin America this week after all. The Iranian press reported that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made a last-minute decision to indefinitely postpone his trip indefinitely in advance of his country’s elections. Still, the prospect of his visit to Brazil, Ecuador, and Venezuela has raised questions about Tehran’s influence in Latin America. During a May 1 Town Hall meeting, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Iran’s inroads...

On 2-3 April 2009, Hugo Chávez paid his seventh official visit to Iran since he came to power. Both countries are strongly committed to creating a bilateral alliance based on common oil interests, military cooperation, ideological affinities between the presidents and open hostility against the United States and its allies. According to the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, “Cooperation between Iran and Venezuela can be a model for anti-imperialist campaigns.” 2 Iran...

SOME three-four million Muslims live in Latin America and over 50,000 of them are Hispanic. Majority of Muslims there have roots from Middle Eastern countries like Syria, Lebanon and Palestine. There are large Muslim populations in Brazil, Venezuela and Colombia. Mosques and prayer houses can be found in all major cities. Islam in Latin America began with Muslim journeys to the continent even before the arrival of Columbus. Evidence of this early contact is based on world maps produced by...

Tehran, (EFE) Iran and Venezuela endorsed a new “roadmap” for their close bilateral relations by which they intend to increase economic exchanges and strengthen their political activities over the next decade. The signing of the new “10-year strategic accord” Saturday capped the official three-day visit of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to Iran during the course of an international tour that will also take him to Japan and China. “The group of documents that...