Latin America:
Venezuela Advocates Destruction of Nukes But Supports Iran06 February 2006
EL UNIVERSAL.COM (VENEZUELA) – On Monday, February 6, 2006, Venezuelan Foreign Integration minister Gustavo Marquez said Venezuela advocates full nuclear disarmament worldwide, preventing the construction of new nuclear weapons and the destruction of existing ones, though the Venezuela openly opposed Iran's referral the the United Nations (UN) Security Council by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Marquez said Venezuela opposes nuclear weapon production in all countries. However, Venezuela, accompanied by Cuba and Syria, voted against the IAEA resolution referring Iran to the UN Security Council on Saturday, February 4, 2006, arguing Tehran is conducting a non-military nuclear program – similar to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s plans for a Venezuelan nuclear program. Following the IAEA vote, Nicholas Burns, the United States (U.S.) Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, branded the governments of Caracas, Havana, and Damasco as "a gang of three." Marquez claimed Washington and its allies are trying to monopolize world nuclear energy production. He also claimed an IAEA report on "the peaceful use of nuclear energy" in Iran was not disclosed. Marquez said the report allegedly shows Iran does not have a nuclear program with military purposes. Marquez added that the U.S. "has said nothing" about nuclear weapons owned by Israel – saying the U.S. could have supported Israeli nuclear weapons development.
Source Reliabilty: 7.0
Comment: The Venezuelan government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has a long-standing reputation for animostiy toward the U.S.
Analysis: It is unlikely an IAEA report on Iran's "peaceful use of nuclear energy" was suppressed by the IAEA. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Thursday, February 9, 2006, the IAEA had not finished the report on Iran, but would complete it by the end of February 2006.
Analytic Confidence: 8.0
* Image Source: IAEA & IRAN.
posted by Ashley @ 02:55
1 comments
1 Comments:
I'm a venezuelan living in exile in the USA. The dictator chavez is destroying the country, following step by step the same path of castro. For a person like me who fled before things worsened (each day that goes by is the worst of the country's history), the hardest part of living as a second class citizen in a foreign country is the sense of belonging. However, I had no sense of belonging in Venezuela after castro's puppet took office. It's a matter of time before Venezuela joins the likes of cuba, china, iran, haiti and many of the African nations; where poverty and corruption are out of control.
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