RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – (El Pais Uruguay) The United States agreed on Friday to an alliance with Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay to counter “illicit activity” and terrorism in the region. The coalition was agreed at the Buenos Aires summit where U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo singled out Iran and the Lebanese Islamic organization Hezbollah as the main threats in South America.
The alliance will be implemented at twice yearly meetings between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, which will hold their first meeting in Paraguay before the end of the year.
The so-called “three plus one” plan may grow in the coming months. In terms of the countries involved at this stage, the most substantial effort will prioritize the triple border shared by Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, an area suspected to harbor Hezbollah elements. However, in the future, the alliance could include Chile and Colombia, reported La Nación newspaper.
Pompeo attended the second Hemispheric Conference on the fight against terrorism in Buenos Aires, where he appealed for countries to follow Argentina’s lead; this Thursday it included Hezbollah in its list of terrorist organizations. “No country announced today that it is going to follow Argentina, but I hope many will do so,” said the Secretary of State.
Along with Hezbollah, Pompeo also pointed to Iran as one of the leading terrorist threats and accused it of organizing a “global campaign of terror”. The Islamic State (ISIS) and Al Qaeda, which are “seeking to re-establish themselves at the forefront of terrorism,” were also identified as issues of concern.
Argentina hosted this international convention during the week that marked the 25th anniversary of the attack on the Jewish Social Service AMIA, which claimed the lives of 85 people and was attributed to Iran and Hezbollah by the Jewish community and Argentinian courts.
Pompeo said the United States would offer a US$7 million reward for information that could help identify and arrest Salman Raouf Salman, believed to be one of the organizers of the AMIA bombing.
“Hezbollah maintains a strong presence in South America, in this region, and is determined to attack anyone anywhere, as it did 25 years ago,” he said.
Foreign ministers and authorities from some 20 countries attended the anti-terrorist conference . The next meeting will take place in Colombia on January 16th and 17th, coinciding with the first anniversary of the attack by the Colombian guerrilla group Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) against a police academy in Bogotá, in which 22 people died and more than 60 were injured.
“We will not back down from the threat of terror, not now nor ever,” exclaimed Pompeo. Argentina is the first stop on Pompeo’s Latin American tour, which will also take him to Ecuador, El Salvador, and Mexico.
Argentina — the partner
Pompeo stressed the excellent relationship between the United States and Argentina and announced that they would extend “strategic cooperation” in areas such as “security, human rights, democracy, and economic development.”
He further expressed his gratitude to Argentina for sheltering more than 150,000 Venezuelan refugees.
“The United States will continue to work with Argentina to curb the regime of Daniel Ortega (Nicaragua) and his campaign of violence and repression and to pursue the struggle for democracy in Cuba,” Pompeo said.
Pompeo’s words were endorsed by the Argentinian Foreign Minister, Jorge Faurie, who also called for international cooperation in fighting the “scourge” of terrorism.
“We have reviewed our dialogue as two friendly countries. Argentina has received tremendous support from the U.S. government and president Trump in times of financial difficulty,” Faurie said.
Pompeo was received last night by president Mauricio Macri in the Quinta de Olivos presidential residence. Pompeo, former head of the CIA, expressed his gratitude to Macri for the Argentinian government’s decision to classify Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. In his turn, the president acknowledged the United States’ support during the economic crisis.
“I am delighted to meet today with President @mauriciomacri in Buenos Aires. Our relationship with #Argentina is based on cooperation, and today, it is stronger than ever. Argentina stands out as a trusted partner in our shared efforts to restore democracy in #Venezuela,” Pompeo wrote on Twitter.
Venezuela was another of Pompeo’s major topics in Argentina. The Secretary of State said that Nicolás Maduro’s regime “is finished” and that it will only be a matter of time before Venezuela restores democracy.
“Maduro will never govern that country again. That’s not going to happen. He may be in command, he may have control of the military at some level, but he will never govern the people again,” Pompeo said forcefully.
“The Organization of American States, the Lima Group (Grupo de Lima), our European partners and the United States, 54 countries, have made it clear that Maduro’s regime is over and it is only a matter of time for all of us together to help the restoration of democracy and the revival of its economy,” he said.
On Tuesday, July 23rd, the Argentinian capital will host a meeting of the Lima Group, made up of Canada and a dozen Latin American countries, to agree on a common position on the Venezuelan crisis.
Venezuela is going through the worst crisis in its modern history. Since 2015, shortages of essential goods and hyperinflation have pushed more than 3.3 million people to leave the country. Argentina has welcomed over 130,000 Venezuelans.
The United States is the leading supporter of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó, while Maduro has the support of Russia, China, and Cuba.
Maduro and Guaidó representatives, with the mediation of Norway, are engaging in a dialogue in Barbados, where they have set up a round table for negotiations.
(Source: El Pais Uruguay)