Venezuela Up to No Good

After reading Juan Paxety's post on Venezuela's interest in acquiring nukes, I found an interesting e-mail in my inbox from NetforCuba.org. It is a story from Douglas MacKinnon, former White House and Pentagon official, published in the Houston Chronicle.

Here are some excerpts:
"To the minute number of people who understand the threat (Hugo) Chavez poses to the United States, his recent hosting in Caracas of Iranian President Mohammad Khatami was disturbing enough. But a high-ranking official for a Latin American government has disclosed to me details about that visit that should send shock waves throughout our government. During a private meeting between Chavez and Khatami, I was told, Chavez made it known to the Iranian leader that he would like to "introduce nuclear elements into Venezuela." My contact said "nuclear elements" meant "nuclear weapons."

MacKinnon goes on to write:
"Standing side by side with Khatami in Caracas, Chavez said, "Iran has every right to develop atomic energy and to continue research in that area. ... Faced with the threat of the U.S. government against our brother people in Iran, count on us for all our support."

You can read the entire article here.