After relinquishing the gavel of the House Foreign Affairs Committee after the 2012 elections, Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen was expected to focus more on other areas of the world besides Latin America, especially as she chairs the House Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee.
But Ros-Lehtinen, the first Hispanic woman and the first Cuban-American elected to Congress, remains a major player in Washington when it comes to Latin America.
Following a family tradition, Ros-Lehtinen, who was born in Cuba in 1952, is a staunch opponent of the communist Castro regime. Her father, Enrique Ros, was a prominent businessman who left Cuba for Miami in 1959 as the Castros drew closer to taking over. During his time in the U.S., Ros wrote a number of books critical of Castros tyrannical rule and hosted shows on Radio Marti.
First elected to Congress in 1989 to replace the legendary Claude Pepper, Ros-Lehtinen has risen up the Republican ranks to become one of the GOPs leaders on foreign policy and international affairs. While Ros-Lehtinen has gone left on certain social issues, mainly as the only Republican member of the congressional LGBT Equality Caucus on same-sex marriage, she remains a reliable conservative on international issues, especially when it comes to Latin America. While she no longer chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee, she retains a seat on the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee.
Last week, Ros-Lehtinen weighed in on the Argentinian prosecutor Alberto Nisman, who is handling the Argentina Jewish Mutual Association (AMIA) case. The AMIA in Buenos Aires was bombed in 1994, killing 85 people and wounding hundreds. Nisman has been insisting that Iran is encouraging terrorist attacks in South America and is working to expand operations in that part of the world.
Im deeply troubled by the findings by Alberto Nisman, whose 500-page indictment cites extensive evidence of Irans intelligence and terrorist network in various Latin American nations, said Ros-Lehtinen. This report shows clearly that the 1994 AMIA bombing was not an isolated event, but rather that it was part of a larger and still ongoing scheme by the Iranian regime and its proxies to expand their influence in the Western Hemisphere and threaten U.S. security interests in the region.
This indictment reaffirms the fact that Irans dual use of diplomatic and cultural offices is utilized to deepen its infiltration into the hemisphere, she added. In particular, the indictment implicates the fugitive Mohsen Rabbani, the mastermind behind the AMIA bombing, as the primary coordinator of Irans nefarious activities in the region. Another disturbing example cited in the indictment which demonstrates the scope of Irans activities is that the two Guyanese men were convicted in 2010 for conspiring to carry out a terrorist attack on JFK airport in New York. These examples underscore the danger that the Iranian regime presents not only through its nuclear program, but also through its unrelenting efforts to export its violent radicalism to our own hemisphere.
Ros-Lehtinen called on Nisman to come to Washington to meet political leaders and talk about the real threats that Iran and its proxies pose to the U.S. and our hemisphere."
Also last week, the South Florida Republican offered her thoughts on the State Departments 2012 Country Reports on Terrorism -- and praised it for continuing to include Cuba as a state sponsor of terror.
The report reaffirms that the Cuban dictatorship provides safe haven to foreign terrorist organizations such as the FARC and ETA and harbors fugitives wanted in the United States, one of them being Joanne Chesimard who is wanted for the murder of a New Jersey state trooper, said Ros-Lehtinen.
Bringing in her activities as chairwoman of the Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee, Ros-Lehtinen linked communist Cuba to governments backing terror on the other side of the globe.
While the report reminds us that the Cuban regime supports acts of international terrorism, I am disappointed that the report failed to mention the unjust detainment of U.S. citizen Alan Gross, the fact that Cuba collaborates with other SST regimes such as Iran and Syria, and operates an extensive spy network that poses a significant threat to our national security, said Ros-Lehtinen. The administration should immediately stop giving concessions to the regime and deny U.S. visas to their operatives who will never respond to diplomatic niceties. The Castro brothers will always take any step to undermine U.S. interests, harm U.S. citizens, and support our enemies.
Ros-Lehtinen has been very active in working with fellow congressmen in trying to keep Cuba designated as a state sponsor of terror. Last month, she teamed with fellow Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart and U.S. Rep. Albio Sires of New Jersey, the ranking Democrat on the House Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, in writing Secretary of State John Kerry in support of keeping Cuba listed as a state sponsor of terror.
With almost 25 years in Congress, Ros-Lehtinen is remaining one of the GOPs leaders on international issues even though she no longer chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee. Even as her focus is more geared toward the Middle East, Ros-Lehtinen is not taking her eyes off Latin America and the Castro regime in Cuba.
Tallahassee political writer Jeff Henderson wrote this story exclusively for Sunshine State News.
