Latijns Amerika en de oorlog, Update 18-10-2001

Update 18-10-2001

1-Latin America: How will attacks on US affect region? 
2-Mexico: Releases Zionist Terrorists 
3-Nicaragua:VS beschuldigt sandinisten van banden met terroristen aan vooravond verkiezingen 
4-Paraguay Terrorist Search Reaches Paraguay Black Market Border Hub Called Key Finance Center for Middle East Extremists

1- LATIN AMERICA How will attacks on US affect region? Lucien O. Chauvin. Oct 5, 2001 

www.noticiasaliadas.org

While opinions are mixed, the possible economic fallout has some experts worried.

Latin American governments and businesspeople are quickly trying to adjust to a new world order created by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

The region has stood solidly behind the United States, offering support for its "war on terrorism" through resolutions at home and in the Organization of American States (OAS). Even Cuba, the only country in the hemisphere locked out of the OAS and discussions about a regional free-trade bloc, condemned the attacks and offered counterintelligence expertise and humanitarian aid.

But while official support for the US government is nearly unanimous, opinions vary on how the attacks and their aftermath will affect the region.

The most somber scenario comes from Otto Boye, permanent secretary of the Latin American Economic System (SELA), who predicts less growth and foreign investment, along with greater vulnerability for exports.

SELA predicts the region will lose about US$40 billion because of slowed growth in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. Citing experts who predict the US economy will lose about $60 billion, Boye said, "This will directly affect growth in the region."

Wall Street analysts and multilateral agencies take a different view, with many seeing a short-term slowdown but predicting long-term benefits.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says the region’s growth will be slower than originally expected. It had been lowering its forecasts since early this year, when the US economy began to stall, and now predicts growth at 1.7 percent this year and 3.6 percent next year.

Walter Molano, head analyst at US-based BCP Securities, believes the aftermath of the attacks could benefit the region in the long run as the United States turns to its allies.

"Overall impact on Latin America should be favorable," he said. "The decline of trans-Pacific trade will provide room for the emergence of Latin American producers."

Historically, Latin America has not fared badly when the United States has gone to war, Molano said, with US leaders tending to look south to trusted neighbors in their own hemisphere.

There were tensions on the three-way border between Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina, where 17 Paraguayans of Middle Eastern origin with alleged ties to terrorist groups were arrested Sept. 21. Another was arrested in Ciudad del Este, while two other people wanted by police were believed to have fled to Brazil.

Meanwhile, political alignments are already taking shape. Brazil and Argentina were quick to respond, going beyond the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, an OAS accord invoked by the region’s governments on Sept. 19. The treaty considers an external attack against one member an attack on all.

Argentine President Fernando de la Rúa and Brazil’s Fernando Henrique Cardoso were quick to offer military support, including troops, to the United States in the case of war.

With Argentina on board, it is unlikely that officials in US President George Bush’s administration will continue criticizing de la Rua’s handling of his country’s financial situation. A few weeks before the attack, high-ranking US officials had objected to a multibillion-dollar International Monetary Fund loan (LP, Aug. 13, 2001).

"Washington’s new mindset will focus on helping our allies and vanquishing our enemies. Given that Argentina announced that it would support any military action by the US, it is obvious where it sits on the team roster," Molano said.

Although it supported the OAS resolution, Venezuela has taken a controversial stance. President Hugo Chávez said his country will send aid and other forms of assistance to Afghanistan, a possible first target of the US war against terrorism, if there is an invasion. He added, however, that he would only send aid if he received a request from the United Nations.

The US government has watched as Chávez has befriended Libya and Iraq, where the Venezuelan leader was the first western president to visit since the 1991 Gulf War. In the new context, however, Chávez’s alliances could draw a stronger response from the United States.

The situation in Colombia is more complicated. The United States has pledged more than $1.3 billion in military and antinarcotics funds for Plan Colombia (LP, April 10, 2000). Of the five South American groups considered terrorists by the United States, three — the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), National Liberation Army (ELN) and United Self-Defense Forces (AUC) — are Colombian, and the United States has classified them as having a "global reach," meaning they are targets in the new war.

This new focus could quickly change the approach to Plan Colombia, which US officials have insisted is limited to fighting drugs. Under the new conditions, it is possible that US aid to Colombia could be used to fight the guerrilla and right-wing paramilitary groups.

The other two groups classified as terrorists are the Shining Path and Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) in Peru. Although they still stage sporadic actions, both are seriously debilitated and the United States is unlikely to consider them to have a global reach. But like Colombia, Peru is a major drug producer, and the drugs-terrorism link could influence future US cooperation with Peruvian authorities.

Peru’s new drug czar, Ricardo Vega Llona, said he hopes the Sept. 11 attacks will help create a new "Americanist" vision in the hemisphere, with the United States seeing its southern neighbers as natural partners in all areas, including the fight against drugs.

"This tragedy could lead to a new era of understanding and cooperation in the region," he said.

While politicians are committing to fighting terrorism, they are also talking with business leaders to predict the impact on local economies.

Lawrence Krohn of ING Baring sees Mexico at greatest risk, because the country’s economy is so closely tied to that of the United States and its northern neighbor is its major trade partner.

In Brazil, concerns focus on the airline and automobile industries. Brazilian carriers say they will have to follow the lead of their US counterparts and make deep personnel cutbacks. Two foreign automakers in Brazil, Volkswagen and Fiat, have already announced furloughs for workers as sales forecasts drop.

Ecuador and Venezuela, which are highly dependent on oil income, could face problems if petroleum prices slip. Chile could face increased economic pressures if the worldwide recession deepens, weakening its exports to Asia.

In Peru’s tourism bureau, the shock of watching New York’s World Trade Center collapse brought aftershocks as officials considered how it might affect the country’s $1-billion-a-year tourist trade. With the ink still fresh on an ambitious plan to attract 3 million tourists a year, officials began scrambling to draw up contingency plans.

Peru attracts about 1 million tourists annually, more than one-quarter of them from the United States. Officials worry that fears about flying and a possible worldwide recession could keep tourists away.

But in a protracted conflict, Latin American vacation spots could become an alternative to travel in other parts of the world. As a provider of raw materials, Latin America could also see improvements in the prices of metals, such as copper, zinc and lead, as well as agricultural products, like coffee, that are at all-time lows.

There may be other effects. There are signs that the US Congress, once reluctant to grant Bush "fast-track" faculties to negotiate the Free Trade Area of the Americas (LP, April 30, 2001), may be more receptive now. And Andean Region leaders say renewal and expansion of the Andean Trade Preference Act, which allows products from the region to enter the US duty-free and is due for renewal on Dec. 1, looks more likely.

2- Mexican Attorney General Releases Zionist Terrorists

Army general and head of the PGR releases two Israelis arrested with guns and explosives inside the Mexican Congress

www.aztlan.net

by Ernesto Cienfuegos La Voz de Aztlan

Los Angeles, Alta California - October 15, 2001- (ACN) In a mind-blowing development, La Voz de Aztlan has learned that Mexican Army General Rafael Marcial Macedo de la Concha who heads the Procuraduría General de la República (Mexican Department of Justice) has released the retired Israeli Defense Forces colonel and presumed MOSSAD agent Salvador Guersson Smecke and Israeli illegal immigrant Saur Ben Zvi after both had penetrated the security of the Mexican Congress and where in possession of guns, hand grenades and explosives.

This morning La Voz de Aztlan had a personal telephone interview with the Mexican Congressional Press Secretary, Lic. Adriana Lopez, and verified the arrest of the two Israelis after they had entered through the highly secured front entrance of the Palacio Legislativo de San Lázaro. She stated to La Voz de Aztlan that the two terrorists had taken advantage of a situation that occurred around 1700 hours of Wednesday October 10 when a large contingent of Sugar Industry Unionists were entering through the metal detectors. The two Israelis followed about 50 of the unionists to the office of the President of the Mexican Congress Beatriz Paredes. The two Israelis were first pretending to be press photographers but called the attention of the sugar unionists because of their nervous and out of the ordinary behavior. About ten of the unionists confronted them and observed that they were carrying guns and and what looked to them to be explosives. They held the two Israelis until Official Congressional Security personnel took them into custody. The head of Congressional Security Salvador Alarcón verified that the Israelis had in their possession nine hand grenades, sticks of dynamite, detonators, wiring and two 9mm "Glock" automatics.

Mexican Congressional Press Secretary Lic. Adriana Lopez informed La Voz de Aztlan in the telephone interview that Congressional Security then turned the terrorists Salvador Guersson Smecke, age 34, and Saur Ben Zvi, age 27, to the Procuraduría General de la República (Mexican Department of Justice) which is headed by Mexican Army General Rafael Marcial Macedo de la Concha. Initial reports by the Procuraduría General de la República (PGR) were that both Israelis worked for a private security agency and that they both had gun permits. It turned out that there is no connection of either suspect to any private security agency. The PGR has released the retired Israeli I.D.F. colonel with the official explanation that he had a legal permit to carry a gun. They also released the illegal Israeli immigrant on about $4000 bail and the case turned over to the Mexican immigration authorities. Mexican Congressional Press Secretary Lic. Adriana Lopez was surprised to hear from La Voz de Aztlan of the release of the two Israelis.

La Voz de Aztlan has also learned that the Israeli Embassy used heavy handed measures to have the two Israelis released. Very high level emergency meetings took place between Mexican Secretary of Foreign Relations Jorge Gutman, General Macedo de la Concha and a top Ariel Sharon envoy who flew to Mexico City specially for that purpose. Elías Luf of the Israeli Embassy worked night and day and their official spokeswoman Hila Engelhart went into high gear after may hours of complete silence. What went one during those high levels meetings no ones knows, but many in Mexico are in disbelief at their release. Guns and any kind of explosive is highly illegal for Mexican citizens and the fact that these two Israelis had them inside the Mexican Congress makes their release highly suspect. What is really going on? Jorge Gutman, the Mexican Foreign Secretary, has very strong Zionist connections and himself is of Jewish descent. Mexican Army General Macedo de la Concha has strong connections to the U.S. Military Industrial-Complex and through this to the Israeli Defense Forces. Have any of these connections influenced the decision to release the two Zionist terrorists?

The initial arrests of the two Israelis inside the Palacio Legislativo de San Lázaro made top news on Mexico City television and radio on the evening of October 10. TV Azteca had extensive coverage on the first night and on the following day. La Cronica de Hoy Newspaper and El Universal Newspaper both covered the incident the following two days but now it seems that there is a lack of reports. The PGR has a Press Bulletin on their official website at http://www.pgr.gob.mx/cmsocial/bol01/oct/b69701.html but they have made no updates. No U.S. media has made any mention, that we know, except one by USAJewish.com this Sunday at: http://www.usajewish.com/scripts/usaj/paper/Article.asp?ArticleID=1307 Pravda of Moscow has a note of the initial La Voz de Aztlan article at: http://english.pravda.ru/main/2001/10/13/17982.html

What were the Israelis up to? We think we know. The Vicente Fox government has been very careful of involving Mexico in a war against Islam. The Mexican population as well as the two major opposition political parties, the PRI and the PRD will not allow it. President Bush and the U.S. Zionists want Mexico fully involved in the war principally because if things get tough in the middle east and the oil rich Arabs leave the coalition, the U.S. military machine is going to need alternative sources of oil and PEMEX is just across the border. We believe that the two Zionists terrorist were going to blow up the Mexican Congress. The second phase was to mobilize both the Mexican and US press to blame Osama bin Laden. Most likely then Mexico would declare war on Afghanistan as well, commit troops and all the oil it could spare to combat Islamic terrorism.

3- VS beschuldigt sandinisten van banden met terroristen aan vooravond verkiezingen Nieuwsdienst 
Ventana www.noticias.nl/prensa/ventana

De Amerikaanse regering heeft begin oktober verschillende keren gewezen op banden die de Sandinistische partij FSLN zou hebben met de regimes van Libie en Irak. Op zaterdag 6 oktober bracht de regering Bush een dergelijk bericht naar buiten, hetgeen de tweede poging binnen drie dagen was om de Sandinisten in verband te brengen met internationaal terrorisme. Een woordvoerster van het Amerikaanse ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken, Eliza Koch, wees erop dat de Sandinisten ook banden zouden onderhouden met de Baskische beweging ETA en de Colombiaanse guerrilla-organisatie FARC.

Waarnemers zien de berichten van de VS als een poging om een dam op te werpen tegen een mogelijke overwinning van de sandinistische presidentskandidaat Ortega bij de verkiezingen van 4 november aanstaande. Het Amerikaanse ministerie wijst er fijntjes op dat de sandinisten niet als bondgenoot in de strijd tegen terrorisme beschouwd kunnen worden.

De Amerikaanse minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Colin Powell heeft begin oktober een onderhoud gehad met zijn rechtse nicaraguaanse collega Francisco Aguirre, waarna Powell's woordvoerder Richard Boucher bekend maakte "ernstig bezorgd te zijn over het sandinistische verleden van inbeslagname van bezittingen zonder compensatie te betalen, vernietiging van de economie en het onderhouden van banden met degenen die terrorisme ondersteunen". Koch voegde echter aan haar verklaring toe dat "de VS de uitslag van de verkiezingen in Nicaragua zullen respecteren".

Al kort na de aanslagen in de VS, op 24 september, verklaarde de Amerikaanse ambassadeur in Nicaragua, Oliver Garza, dat Amerikaanse diensten onderzoek zouden doen naar "mogelijke banden tussen Nicaraguaanse ingezetenen en de terreuraanslagen". Volgens de ambassadeur was immers bekend dat in de jaren '80 veel buitenlanders naar Nicaragua verhuisd zijn'. Voormalig minister van Binnenlandse Zaken Herrera voegde daar aan toe dat er "mensen uit Palestina, Libiers, Iraniers, van wel 20 guerrilla-bewegingen" in de jaren tachtig in Nicaragua zijn komen wonen.

De aartsconservatieve president van Nicaragua, Arnoldo Aleman, was er ook snel bijgeweest om te suggereren dat de presidentskandidaat van het FSLN, Daniel Ortega, over goede connecties met de Libische leider Gadaffi zou beschikken. Bij de verkiezingen van 4 november treedt Ortega aan tegen Aleman's partijgenoot en voormalig vicepresident Enrique Bolanos van de neoliberale Constitutionele Liberale Partij PLC.

Het linkse dagblad EL Nuevo Diario draaide al op 13 september de zaak om in een stuk van politiek analist Oscar Rene Vargas waarin verband werd gelegd tussen de rechtse contra-rebellen die tegen Nicaragua vochten en het terreurnetwerk van Bin Laden (beide werden immers door het Witte Huis gesponsord). Volgens Vargas werden de contra's gesubsidieerd door de elite in landen als Brunei en Saudi-Arabie, en was Bin Laden een "Frankenstein die door de CIA gemaakt is" maar er werden geen bewijzen gegeven voor een directe band tussen Bin Laden en de contra's.

Verslagen van talloze demonstraties tegen de 'nieuwe oorlog' in Latijns-Amerika zijn te vinden op de website van noticias: www.noticias.nl

Weekly News Update (# 609) maakt ook melding van een video uit het inbeslaggenomen archief van de voormalige Peruaanse chef van de veiligheidsdienst Montesinos onder president Fujimori, uit maart 2000. De video werd op 23 september vertoond in het programma "Laat niemand slapen" ("Nadie se Duerma"). In de video overlegt Montesinos met de burgemeester van de stad Callao, Alex Kouri, over de aanwezigheid van Osama Bin Laden in Peru. Het gesprek vindt plaats op het kantoor van de veiligheidsdienst SIN. Montesinos vertelt Kouri dat de VS ernstig bezorgd is over de werkzaamheden van Bin Laden's netwerk in Peru, dat gebruikt zou worden als "operationeel centrum en rustgebied". Met name het internationale vliegveld Jorge Chavez, in Callao dat vlak naast de hoofdstad Lima ligt, zou een basis zijn voor drugssmokkel en terreur-operaties. De Amerikanen zouden bezorgd zijn over de privatisering van het vliegveld, dat nu in handen is van een Duits concern.

Alex Kouri, die van Arabische afkomst is, is nog steeds burgemeester van de stad, en Montesinos bevindt zich sinds 28 juni in gevangenschap op de marinebasis van Callao. Hij werd na de vlucht van president Fujimori naar Japan gearresteerd in Venezuela en uitgewezen naar Peru. (AP 07/10/01, Weekly news Update on the Americas # 609, 30/09/01)

4- Washington Post Saturday, October 13, 2001

U.S. Terrorist Search Reaches Paraguay Black Market Border Hub Called Key Finance Center for Middle East Extremists

By Anthony Faiola Washington Post Foreign Service

CIUDAD DEL ESTE, Paraguay -- This city on Paraguay's lawless border with Brazil and Argentina is the perfect place to buy a fake Rolex, strike a deal with a Colombian drug lord or get caught in a shoot-out between warring factions of the Taiwanese mafia.

Now Latin America's Contraband Capital has got a new reputation -- as one of the more far-flung fronts in the global war on terrorism.

Described by one intelligence official here as "one of the most important financing centers for Islamic terrorists outside the Middle East," the triple-border area with its large population of people of Arab descent has become the focus of an intensive, U.S.-supported law- enforcement sweep launched soon after the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.

Police have arrested more than 20 people in and around Ciudad del Este, including several suspects allegedly linked to the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas. Banking authorities are investigating $22 million in more than 40 accounts for potential links to terrorist organizations.

Last week, in the most dramatic operation yet, 30 black-masked Paraguayan commandos raided the closet-sized video-game shop of a long-time Lebanese merchant here. They seized boxes containing fund- raising propaganda for the militant, Lebanese-based Hezbollah movement, financial statements detailing $250,000 in monthly transfers to the Middle East and descriptions of at least 30 recent attacks in Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories, officials here said.

Leaders of the Arab community here, one of Latin America's most influential and prosperous, denied any terror links. "It's discrimination and racism," said Paraguay-born Aly Abou Saleh, president of the local Chamber of Commerce. "There is this thought floating around that Arabs attacked the World Trade Center, so all Arabs worldwide have to pay the price."

But Paraguayan police are not backing off. Under U.S. pressure, they have filed charges against a number of key Paraguayan officials, including the country's consul generals in Miami and Salta, Argentina. They allegedly sold illegal passports to dozens of Ciudad del Este-bound foreigners for as little as $800 each, including at least three people on a U.S. terrorist watch list, according to intelligence sources familiar with the case.

"We might be thousands of miles from ground zero in New York and Washington, and even farther from Afghanistan, but even in Paraguay, the battle is engaged," said a Paraguayan intelligence official.

Officials have uncovered no direct links between the triple border area and the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, but the roundups and investigations offer a fresh example of how the worst terrorist attacks in U.S. history continue to change life in outlying corners of the world.

Ciudad del Este rests on the murky banks of the Parana River. A mile west of here, past a border so porous it can be crossed without so much as flashing a passport, lies the bustling Brazilian city of Foz do Iguacu. To the south lies the more rigorously controlled border with Argentina.

Founded in the 1950s, Ciudad del Este has become an oasis for contraband. Rich Brazilians, turned off by high tariffs in their country, flock to the Paraguayan side of the border to buy electronics and luxury goods. Many items are stolen or pirated, but legitimate foreign-made goods can also be unusually cheap because bribed customs officials do not enforce duties.

Border checks are lax in part to encourage a tourist business in which millions of people flock from Paraguay each year to the Brazilian and Argentine sides of the border to visit the nearby Iguacu Falls, one of South America's most spectacular attractions. Many tourists also opt for a day trip to Ciudad del Este, where dense alleyways of street merchants selling cheap trinkets stand side by side with Latin America's largest luxury department store, fine Arab restaurants and thriving branches of U.S., Brazilian and Taiwanese banks.

Those same lax controls, officials now say, have also allowed terrorist operatives to slip into the region.

"In the tri-border area . . . we see the long-standing presence of Islamic extremist organizations, primarily Hezbollah and, to a lesser extent, the Sunni extremist groups Gamaat i-Islami [Egyptian Islamic Group] and Hamas," Francis X. Taylor, the State Department's coordinator for counterterrorism, told Congress on Wednesday.

"These organizations are involved in fundraising activities and proselytizing among the large expatriate population from the Middle East that lives in the tri-border. These organizations engage in document forgery, money laundering, contraband smuggling, and weapons and drug trafficking."

Suspected terrorist links here date back to the early 1990s, when investigations into the Buenos Aires bombings of the Israeli embassy in 1992 and the Jewish Community Center in 1994 pointed to Islamic extremists operating on the Paraguayan side of the triple border. More ties surfaced later in the decade.

In January 1999, El Said Hassan Ali Mohamed Mukhlis, an Egyptian then living in Ciudad del Este who was allegedly tied to Egypt's Islamic Group, was arrested in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. He was allegedly en route to Europe to link up with a terrorist cell tied to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network. He denies wrongdoing.

In February 2000, Paraguayan authorities arrested Ali Khalil Mehri, a naturalized Paraguayan citizen born in Lebanon who was living in Ciudad del Este. He was charged with selling millions of dollars of counterfeit software and funneling the proceeds to Hezbollah. Authorities searching his home found videos and CDs of known suicide bombers rallying others to the cause. U.S. officials say the material's purpose may have been to radicalize Arab youths in Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina.

British intelligence subsequently fingered Mehri as a potential al Qaeda financier. One year ago, Mehri, a large campaign contributor to powerful members of Paraguay's ruling Colorado Party, escaped from prison and fled to Syria, where he has denied the charges.

Last November, Paraguayan authorities arrested Salah Abdul Karim Yassine, a Palestinian who entered the country using false documents. Yassine, officials say, was plotting to bomb the U.S. and Israeli embassies in Asuncion and was allegedly securing $100,000 in financing while living in Ciudad del Este. He denied the charges, saying he was only making threats as a joke.

The sweeps since Sept. 11 have resulted in more than 20 arrests on false passport and visa charges. A half-dozen suspects are being investigated for links to radical Islamic groups because of propaganda leaflets, photographs and letters found among their belongings.

The crackdown is rocking the Arab community here and across the Brazilian border in Foz do Iguacu, where an estimated 15,000 Arabs live and work. Most are prosperous Lebanese immigrants who have their own Arabic-language cable channel, three mosques and a country club, as well as vast political influence and economic clout.

Saleh, the Chamber of Commerce president, and other leaders here said the evidence against Arabs has been fabricated, falsified or exaggerated as part of a U.S. plan to pursue a longtime objective of cracking down on software and music pirating and trademark infringements in Ciudad del Este.

Arab leaders here condemn the attacks on the United States, but at the same time say the crackdown here displays the bias present in Washington's Middle East policy. For instance, they argue, contributions to Lebanon-based Hezbollah, a group which many here see as a political party and charity organization for widows and orphans of the Middle East conflict, should not be seen as aid to terrorists.

"Hezbollah is a legitimate resistance group struggling against invaders into historically Arab lands," Sheik Mounir Fadel, the Islamic cleric at Ciudad del Este's Prophet Mohammad Mosque and Towers, said through an Arabic interpreter. "You can't go around calling people terrorist sympathizers if they support organizations such as Hezbollah. These are not such simple lines to draw. Not in the Middle East, and certainly not in Paraguay."

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