Connie Mack Links Hugo Chavez to Iran

With Hugo Chavez continuing his world tour, Republican U.S. Rep. Connie Mack continued to fire away at the Venezuelan leader. On Wednesday, Mack, the ranking Republican on the House Subcomittee on the Western Hemisphere, warned that Chavez had close ties to Iran.

Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavezs deep friendship with Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is extremely troublesome, said Mack. During his visit to Iran last week, Chavez enhanced bilateral ties between the two countries aimed at strengthening the anti-imperialist axis.Chavez and Ahmadinejad agreed to build a refinery in Syria and establish a joint oil shipping company to transport crude oil, allowing Caracas to sell more than half a million barrels of oil to Europe and Asia.

The dangerous relationship between Chavez and Ahmadinejad has serious implications for the security of our nation and the hemisphere, continued Mack. With its burgeoning nuclear program, Iran has shown interest in uranium deposits in Venezuela. In fact, just yesterday, Iran started to fully load fuel into its only nuclear reactor. And both Chavez and Ahmadinejad are united in their effort to defeat our common foes the United States and Israel.

Chavez has allowed Iran to gain a strategic foothold in our hemisphere, spreading anti-freedom and anti-democratic messages around the region and threatening the stability of Latin America, said Mack.The administration cannot allow Chavezs words and actions to go unchecked, and thats why the administration must turn their no-policy approach toward Venezuela into a targeted, take-action approach without delay.And we can start by naming Venezuela a state sponsor of terrorism.