Iran’s Leftist Allies in Latin American Accuse Trump of Prompting War

US sanctions Venezuela officials close to 'former President' Maduro
AFP
Ben Kew

Left-wing leaders and regime mouthpieces across Latin America expressed condemnation of President Donald Trump and warned of incoming war as Iran launched a failed missile attack on U.S. assets in Iraq on Tuesday.

Iran claimed the rocket attack, which resulted in no casualties and minimal property damage, was “hard revenge” for the U.S. airstrike last week that eliminated Iranian terror chief Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force.

The U.S. State Department has repeatedly warned about the presence of Iranian-backed terror groups such as Hezbollah in Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Bolivia. The region’s remaining left-wing regimes share strong relations with the Islamic Republic.

The regime of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro issued a communiqué condemning the U.S.’s killing of Soleimani last week.

An editorial in Venezuelan state propaganda outlet VTV on Wednesday warned that Trump the administration will be “directly responsible for causing an international conflict that will have incalculable consequences for world peace and security.”

After pointing out that “several nations” have allegedly denounced the attack as “aggressive, unilateral, unjustified and in violation of International Law and Iraqi sovereignty,” the piece cited “international analysts” who claimed the attack violated the Charter of the United Nations and merely serves the “imperial interests of foreign and domestic policy.”

The sentiment was echoed by the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Cuba, Granma, which proclaimed that America’s “imperial darts” had finally landed on the Islamic Republic of Iran.

“With their attack on Soleimani, the U.S. trampled on the United Nations Charter again by invoking its right to ‘protect its personnel abroad,’” it asserted on Wednesday. “It is not the first time it has used deception to attack other countries without presenting clear evidence.”

The newspaper listed as examples of violating United Nations provisions the sinking of the USS Maine (not an American act and preceding the founding of the United Nations), the Gulf of Tonkin incident in which Vietnamese communists attacked a U.S. ship in international waters, the Afghan war, the Iraq war, “the alleged ‘democratization’ of Libya,” and operations against Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.

Nicaraguan dictator Daniel Ortega did not mention the United States in his statement on the tensions, but the country’s former ambassador to the United Nations, Julio Izaco Gallard, warned this weekend that tensions had put Nicaragua and other Latin American allies of Iran in a “delicate situation” as the U.S. could start attacking Iranian-backed terrorist cells operating in those territories.

“Iran’s threats of revenge put Nicaragua in a very delicate situation because our alliance with them makes us a potential target,” he explained. “It is a situation that can escalate and there could hypothetically be measures that hinder the freedom of Nicaraguans to travel to the United States.”

In Argentina, where socialist Alberto Fernández was recently sworn in as president, authorities stepped up security at airports, borders, and the U.S. embassy in Buenos Aires over fears of potential violence. “Because of the history of two attacks we had, Argentina must be on alert for this type of conflict worldwide,” Defense Minister Agustin Rossi told local news site Infobae.

Argentina has previously been subject to two separate terrorist attacks in 1992 and 1994 against Israelis by the Iranian-backed terror organization Hezbollah and traced back to individual government officials in Tehran. The leftists who recently regained power previously attempted to broker deals with Iran to crush investigations into the 1994 attack on the Argentine-Israel Mutual Association (AMIA) in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people.

The left-wing administration of Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Mexico also refused to pass judgment but called on both sites to work towards finding a diplomatic solution.

“In accordance with the constitutional principles of foreign policy, (Mexico) endorses the value of dialogue and negotiation in the resolution of international disputes,” the Mexican foreign ministry said on Twitter.

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump confirmed that Iran had decided to stand down after firing 15 missiles against American targets, with no casualties, as revenge for Soleimani’s death.

“I’m pleased to inform you: The American people should be extremely grateful and happy no Americans were harmed in last night’s attack by the Iranian regime,” said Trump in a nationwide address. “We suffered no casualties, all of our soldiers are safe, and only minimal damage was sustained at our military bases.”

“Our great American forces are prepared for anything. Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world,” he continued.

Follow Ben Kew on Facebook, on Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart.com.

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