Latin America’s tyrants open their arms to Iran

No sooner had the world learned of a Chinese spying post in Cuba than Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi announced a “friendly” visit to Managua, Havana and Caracas.

The tour, which begins Jun. 11, is intended to strengthen cooperation between Iran and three Latin American dictatorships on political, trade, industrial and scientific cooperation with the three dictatorships that proclaim themselves anti-imperialist — that is, sworn enemies of the United States.

Iran’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, is a conservative cleric and legal death penalty expert whose regime put 580 people to death last year. He doesn’t believe in a free press or women’s rights.

Since coming to power in 2021, he has increased military spending, strengthened ties with China and Russia, and restored diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia. The Persian head of state has offered drones to Russia to attack Ukraine, and a few days ago he announced the tests of a new hypersonic ballistic missile.

In Nicaragua, dictator Daniel Ortega has offered up his country to be Iran’s platform in Central America. Ortega currently controls the General Secretariat of the Central American Integration System, the key and vehicle of regional integration.

Ortega, a Cold War dinosaur, has unabashedly defended the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea. He proclaims that they are peaceful by nature and sovereign by definition. Nicaragua has signed twenty cooperation agreements with Iran in the 16 years of his dictatorship.

The New York Times has also reported that, in February of this year, the Nicaraguan Army met with an Iranian delegation to discuss issues related to strengthening military cooperation.

Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro also signed a 20-year cooperation agreement with Iran last year. The document covers such areas as energy, gas and defense. Last year, the dictator offered one million hectares of sovereign territory to Iran for “agricultural purposes.” Both autocracies drive all kinds of opaque transnational businesses, including illegal mining and blood gold.

This year, Venezuela’s state-owned oil company and the Iranian oil company NIORDC struck an agreement to revive the Paraguaná Refining Complex, the largest such facility in the South American nation.

Cuba’s 64-year-old dictatorship has ratified its alliance and friendship with Iran against external interference of the U.S. and its Western allies. Iran is another country that supports the island tyranny with technology, food security and oil. In recent months, they have signed 13 cooperation agreements, not a single one to reduce the hunger ravaging its population.

Iran has also taken its warships for a walk in Latin America. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva authorized the entry of the destroyer IRIS Dena and the IRIS Makran. The ship, armed to the teeth, travels through Latin America and the world on “peace” missions.

The presence of Iran does not bring anything positive for the peoples of Latin America or the U.S. These tours seek to empower dictators, promote shady deals, and engage in high-voltage geopolitics.

Is not a matter of a multipolar world. Is a question of leadership. The role of the international community seems increasingly weak. China, Russia and Iran are advancing through Latin America with great force and little brake. In terms of economic development, they offer businesses with low wages, poor conditions for workers and production of poor-quality goods.

The security of the Americas is at risk as authoritarian regimes flourish like weeds. Beyond the threats of a spy base in Cuba, the region requires preventive and proactive leadership, which acts before dictatorships are established and before armed conflicts are ignited.

Latin America must and can continue to be a zone of peace and prosperity. A strong and strategic foreign policy is urgently needed, which involves promoting greater trade ties with partners and holding dictators accountable for their crimes. It is never too late to start doing this effectively. 

Arturo McFields is a former Nicaraguan ambassador to the Organization of American States, an exiled journalist, and a former member of the Peace Corps of Norway.