Iran’s Past and Future Presence in Latin America

Investigations into past Iranian terrorist attacks in Argentina reveal the extent of its terror network in Latin America and its determination to sponsor global chaos.

On July 18, 1994, a Hezbollah suicide bomber operating under directions from Iran, rammed a truck laden with 600 pounds of explosives into the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (amia) building—a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires. The ensuant blast killed 85 people and wounded more than 300 others.

Nearly 22 years later, the amia bombing remains as the worst terrorist attack in Argentine history, and it is largely unsolved. But the bombing is arguably the most revealing of the extent of Iran’s terror outreach beyond the borders of the Middle East.

As Iran has expanded and spread its acts of terrorism and its hatred for Jews all over the Earth, even right up to the United States’ backdoor, it simultaneously has worked hard to cover its tracks and present itself as a pragmatic international partner. Terrifyingly, Iran has scored some successes: The world’s number one state sponsor of terrorism is now essentially an ally of the U.S. and the West.

Time will prove that to be a fatal mistake.

Germany Makes Gains in the Scramble Over Latin America’s Resources

 

Latin America’s political shifts are opening doors for Germany’s economy.

Many nations today are casting their gaze upon a land where natural resources are found in abundance, where raw materials are yet to be extracted, and where renewable energy resources haven’t reached their full potential. They are ogling Latin America as a region that could help them secure their economic future.

For a time, China, and to some degree Russia, seemed to gain the upper edge.

But the Trumpet did not expect that arrangement to last. “[B]e assured that Europe will not stand by passively and allow Beijing and Moscow to elbow it off the dance floor,” we wrote last year.

Now, the political landscape in parts of Latin America is changing, which may open the door for greater German involvement.

The World’s First Cashless Society Is Here – A Totalitarian’s Dream Come True

 

Central planners around the world are waging a War on Cash. In just the last few years:

• Italy made cash transactions over €1,000 illegal;
• Switzerland proposed banning cash payments in excess of 100,000 francs;
• Russia banned cash transactions over $10,000;
• Spain banned cash transactions over €2,500;
• Mexico made cash payments of more than 200,000 pesos illegal;
• Uruguay banned cash transactions over $5,000; and
• France made cash transactions over €1,000 illegal, down from the previous limit of €3,000.

The War on Cash is a favorite pet project of the economic central planners. They want to eliminate hand-to-hand currency so that governments can document, control, and tax everything.

Deutsche Bank to cut 15,000 jobs as it stumbles to €6bn loss

Germany’s biggest bank also plans to pull out of 10 countries and to sell units with another 20,000 workers

Deutsche Bank’s new chief executive John Cryan has vowed to chop the giant lender down to a more manageable size after it made a record loss of €6.01bn in the third quarter.

In a bid to return to a sustainable profit, Germany’s largest lender will slash its workforce, suspend its dividend for two years and pull out of 10 countries.

A fake Iranian “defector” assassinated Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman

According to our investigation, two Iranian Intelligence Ministers, the incumbent Mahmoud Alavi and his predecessor Hojjat-ol-Eslam Heydar Moslehi, had for nine years wracked their brains for a way to silence the Jewish prosecutor, ever since he began probing the two attacks. They worked hand in glove with senior Argentinean government and intelligence agencies. (In Iran, intelligence ministers take their orders directly from supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei although they attend cabinet meetings.)

Tehran’s clandestine hand deep in the Americas

Nisman had made the powers-that-be in Tehran jittery, because a) he was ambitious, honest and a courageous searcher after the truth; b) he was Jewish and had active connections with Israel; and c) in pursuit of his inquiry, he spread his net wide to include contacts with the Israeli Mossad and the American CIA.

Mercosur Wants to Expand Cooperation With Eurasian Economic Union

Argentine Ambassador to Russia Pablo Anselmo Tettamanti says the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) is an important partner for Argentina, and Mercosur wants to continue developing cooperation with their Eurasian partners. He also added that Russia is discussing new investment opportunities with Argentina.

…

According to the ambassador, Argentina facilitated significant progress in reaching an agreement between Mercosur and the Eurasian Economic Union in the last six months of 2014. A number of meetings held in Moscow and Buenos Aires have led to the creation of a draft cooperation agreement in the economic and trade spheres between the two regional trading blocs.

Eurasian Economic Union to boost ties with South America’s largest trade bloc

BUENOS AIRES, November 26. /TASS/. The Eurasian Economic Union, which is due to go into effect in 2015, and the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) have almost agreed on a memorandum of understanding, a minister for trade of the Eurasian Economic Commission told TASS in an interview on Wednesday.

“We have in fact completed the work on the memorandum of cooperation in the economic sphere between the two integration associations,” said Andrey Slepnev, who leads talks with Argentina, the current chair of the Mercosur trade group.

George Soros’ real crusade: Legalizing marijuana in the U.S.

You can now add ‘drug pusher to America’ to his resume, which already includes almost breaking the British Pound, being both a convicted felon in and banned from entering France, as well as being a financial backer of the Ukrainian crisis in hopes of exploiting oil and gas opportunities.

More on George Soros can be found here and here.

Billionaire philanthropist George Soros hopes the U.S. goes to pot, and he is using his money to drive it there.

With a cadre of like-minded, wealthy donors, Mr. Soros is dominating the pro-legalization side of the marijuana debate by funding grass-roots initiatives that begin in New York City and end up affecting local politics elsewhere.

Through a network of nonprofit groups, Mr. Soros has spent at least $80 million on the legalization effort since 1994, when he diverted a portion of his foundation’s funds to organizations exploring alternative drug policies, according to tax filings.

Obama’s Falklands Failure

Thirty years ago, on April 2, 1982, Argentina invaded the Falkland. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher quickly assembled and dispatched a formidable naval task force to retake the islands, which had been a British possession since 1833. On June 14, Argentine forces surrendered to the Royal Marines. The conflict was brief and violent, with both nations losing ships and hundreds of sailors and soldiers. The war was, however, a decisive victory for the United Kingdom.

As the 30^th anniversary of the war approached, in December, Argentinian President Christina Kirchner vowed that her nation would reclaim the Islas Las Malvinas, as the Falklands are called in Argentina. She stated that “[i]n the 21st century [Britain] continues to be a crude colonial power in decline.”  She branded British Prime Minister David Cameron “arrogant” and said his defense in parliament of the right of the people of the Falklands to self-determination was an expression of “mediocrity and stupidity.”

Argentina’s Foreign Minister, Hector Timerman, claims that Cameron’s defense of the Falklands sovereignty “is perhaps the last refuge of a declining power.” Prince William aka Flight Lieutenant Wales, who is currently piloting a Royal Air Force rescue helicopter in the Falklands, has been labeled a “conquistador” by Argentine officials.

…

While it seems unlikely that Argentina would risk another humiliating defeat by invading the Falklands in the near term, the temptation of appealing to nationalism to mask an economic or political crisis combined with the desire to control what appear to be significant South Atlantic oil reserves means that another Argentine military adventure cannot be ruled out. There are four key takeaways from the current situation with implications that stretch much further than the issue at hand:

First, military weakness is provocative. Argentina ramped up its aggressive rhetoric and diplomatic efforts to reclaim the Falklands only after P.M. Cameron announced massive cuts to the Royal Navy and British ground forces. The decommissioning last December of the U.K.’s sole remaining aircraft carrier, Ark Royal, well before its service life ended, and the sale of Britain’s 50 G-9 Sea Harrier fighter jets to the U.S. Marine Corps, seems to have emboldened the Argentines. In 1982, the Royal Navy had approximately 90 warships from which it could assemble a task force.  Today it has 30. Indeed, most experts believe that while it would be very difficult for the Argentine military to successfully invade the islands, it would be nearly impossible for the U.K. to retake them without an aircraft carrier in the event that Argentina was successful in overrunning Britain’s key air base at Mount Pleasant.

…

Second, the Obama administration has made the United States an unreliable ally for our closest friends. Britain has been a stalwart ally of the U.S. in both Iraq and Afghanistan, notwithstanding the tremendous domestic political pressure on Labour and Conservative governments not to participate in those unpopular wars. However, in 2010, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for talks over the dispute and even appeared to side with Argentina during a press conference with President Kirchner in Buenos Aires.  Last month, as the current situation developed, rather than send a clear message to Argentina that the United States supported its longtime ally, a State Department spokesman demurred: “[t]his is a bilateral issue that needs to be worked out directly between the governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom…We recognize de facto United Kingdom administration of the islands, but take no position regarding sovereignty.”  Nile Gardiner, the Telegraph’s Washington correspondent, wrote in response that the “Obama administration knife[d] Britain in the back again over the Falklands.”

The shabby treatment meted out to America’s “special relationship” partner in this instance cannot be seen as a surprise. It is in line with the administration’s treatment of Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (at least prior to Bob Turner winning Anthony Weiner’s Congressional seat in New York). Poland and the Czech Republic suffered similar slights after the Administration unilaterally cancelled ABM sites in those countries as part of its naïve and, so far, unsuccessful attempt to “reset” relations with Russia.  And, there has been much criticism of the Administration for failing to provide Taiwan with the latest F-16 fighters that it has long requested to defend itself against a potential attack by China. There is no doubt that American allies such as Israel, Colombia, Georgia, Taiwan, the Gulf States and the Baltics, all of which live in dangerous neighborhoods, are watching the United States’ response to the Falklands row with concern.

Full article: Obama’s Falklands Failure (The Diplomat)