Ros-Lehtinen Calls Ahmadinejad's Latin America Trip 'A Tour Of Tyrants'

Cuban-American congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) has labeled Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s Latin America trip, with stops in Cuba and Venezuela, a "tour of tyrants."

Ahmadinejad's trip represents his fifth visit to the region since 2007. Some, like Ros-Lehtinen, worry the Iranian President is seeking to unite Latin American leaders against US interests. Countries scheduled on Ahmadinejad's tour include Nicaragua, Ecuador, Cuba and Venezuela.

Ros-Lehtinen, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Republican Congresswoman from Florida, said the tour represented an opportunity for Ahmadinejad to "[spew] anti-American rhetoric" and "undermine U.S. national security interests," in a statement released on Monday.

Ros-Lehitnen adds that the "central agenda" of Ahmadinejad's trip is "rallying dictators against the United States."

Ahmadinejad's tour comes amid heightened international tension over Iran's failure to comply with United Nations nuclear non-proliferation agreements. The U.S. and the 27-country European Community have announced new economic sanctions against Iran, including a possible European oil embargo. The sanctions were a response to a recent UN report that said Iran was likely developing a nuclear bomb. Iran has threatened to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping lane where 35 percent of the world's oil passes.

Other observers have said Ahmadinejad's getaway signals his growing weakness back home. The Financial Times reported:

"Perhaps the two biggest strategic questions surrounding the trip are the extent to which Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's socialist president, will back Iran's threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most important oil shipping lane, or how much Chavez might undermine international sanctions against Iran by providing fuel or cash to Islamic Republic."

During the Iranian President's stop in Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez offered words of support to the Iranian government, dismissing U.S. worries about Iran's nuclear program and his growing ties to Latin America.

"They accuse us of being warmongers,” Chavez said to The Washington Post. “They’re the threat.”

Chavez said that both Iran and Venezuela are peaceful and that the US overreacts whenever they meet.

“When we devils get together ... it’s like they go crazy,” Chavez told The Washington Post.

He then joked that that the Iranian President was traversing the “the axis of evil of Latin America.”

But for Congresswoman Ros-Lehitnen, Ahmadinejad's trip is no laughing matter.

In her statement released Monday, she warns that the "growing alliances between Iran and anti-American dictatorships in the Western Hemisphere pose a serious threat to democracy and stability in the region."

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Comments

[jo smith456]

06:22 AM on 01/26/2012

another dual-loyalist, warmongering, lobbyist-controlled, lapdog congressperson...

[PedroAnimala]

10:43 AM on 01/14/2012

A female dog, even when taught to bark on command, remains a dog.

[Cacey]

06:35 AM on 01/14/2012

Ileana is playing the typical Cuban American fear tactic while positioning Cuban Americans as the only Latinos who truly love the US. No wonder most Hispanics so dislike the Cuban Americans. Latin American leaders play games like a fox. I happened to be in Nicaragua earlier this week and caught part of Ortega's innaguration on TV. There is no enmity against the US in Nicaragua, simply a desire for progress and Ortega who out played Reagan is still at it, possibly using Ahmadinejad as a foil. And Chavez is simply seeking to bolster his own world standing in his last days. After a century of gunboat diplomacy, it is finally good that we have a President who understands the credibility of Latin America, all of it, and shares the Hemisphereic Dream of all of us.

[Helloise]

09:05 AM on 01/14/2012

Interestingly, an extremely conservative friend of my parents, who worked in various dictatorships, including Iran, and ended up living in Key West told them that the right wing Cubans in Florida were the most obnoxious people he'd ever met in his life.

[jayx002]

05:59 PM on 01/12/2012

let them gather while they can, chavez is half dead, castro is a walking mummy his brother is not far from him

[Sean Porter]

04:28 PM on 01/12/2012

The Congresswoman should concentrate on her own plate instead of obsessing about the guests that sovereign Latin American countries want to host.

[ZenCrusader]

10:41 AM on 01/13/2012

you must not agree with what she had to say

[Mailman]

09:52 AM on 01/12/2012

Where is a predator drone when you need one?

[n4tvq]

09:29 AM on 01/12/2012

Ileana it's time to retire.

[jo smith456]

06:23 AM on 01/26/2012

send her back to Cuba...

[ms.understood]

01:55 AM on 01/12/2012

i completely agree with the congresswoman. that NutjobFromIran is a complete waste of air and anything else that makes one human.

[ElCojonuo]

08:13 PM on 01/11/2012

Te estás poniendo vieja y gorda Ileanita.
La doble papada no te asienta ( también esos lentes de anciana ).
Baja de peso y trabaja en ponerte las carnes duras.

[Abdullahiedward]

07:32 PM on 01/11/2012

I think this woman is a very confuese person. First of all she doesn't know if she's a Cuban/American or an Israeli/American. She has been so vindictive against both Cubans and Arabs for her entire political career that she couldn't possibly say anything good about anybody on the left side of the street. She is so far right (politically speaking) she akes Mitt look like a Liberal and I'm not the least surprised that she has endorsed him for the Republican nomination. Birds of a feather...

[yasmani]

05:58 PM on 01/11/2012

Oh yes, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, member of the Miami based Cuban mafia, who openly supports the deadliest terrorist of the Western hemisphere Luis Posada Carriles.

[ffny]

04:48 PM on 01/11/2012

Didn't know the "Three Stooges" were still around

[catarina2k2012]

04:57 PM on 01/11/2012

Why are you one of them my sister!
I love you, even if you don't feel the same about me.
Try spreading some love it might heal your way of thinking.

[catarina2k2012]

04:45 PM on 01/11/2012

I see we have a lot of haters in the house. For extra homework find out the meaning of love!
I and others like myself is your sister! and brother!
Grow up! and get use too it!. Stop complaining and pointing fingers we all are the blame for what shape (The Economy) is in today!. In (Gods) eyes there is no one down here on earth better then the next person. (Jahoveh!) and our Lord and Saviour (Jesus Christ) is of perfection, where we are nothing but dust. Now top that statement!

[escholar]

04:40 PM on 01/11/2012

Servant or Tyrant? -
According to the American political establishment, any country that dares to own and control it's resources for the benefit of it's people and refuses to let it's resources be owned and controlled by and for the benefit of the US and the west, it's leader is a tyrant.
On the other hand, any country, no matter how brutal or corrupt it's leader may be, but as long as he or she is subservient to the will of the US and the west, he or she can never be a tyrant.
Some of the most brutal and corrupt leaders in the world are America's close friends and allies, but they are not tyrants, according to the US, because they serve US and western interests, at the expense of their people's interests.
www.consortiumnews.com/2012/01/06/how-propaganda-targets-iran/

[Zip Zinzel]

04:38 PM on 01/11/2012

THE US IS SO STUPID ABOUT Ahmadinejad

ANYBODY WHO KNOWS ANYTHING ABOUT IRAN
Knows that this clown has about as much REAL Power, as a Sanitation Worker, he controls nothing!

Ahmadinejad isn't a commander-in-chief, and the only part of the internal Security Forces that he has any control over is his personal security detail.

ALL REAL POWER IN IRAN IS IN THE HANDS OF THE SUPREME LEADER
. . and the 12 member Guardian Council

[ZenCrusader]

08:38 PM on 01/12/2012

point taken but you dismiss him too easily - his worldwide media exposure and networking Iran with the likes of Chavez and Ortega is considerable power

[Zip Zinzel]

01:28 PM on 01/15/2012

ZenCrusader- Thanks for your reply

They appear to have the power of a media celebrity of the moment.

It remains to be seen if they do anything of substance.

ALSO, Chavez & Ortega DO have actual power in their countries, as opposed to the ceremonial president of Iran