Iran's Romance of
Nicaragua
By Siobhan Morrissey
Nicaragua, the Central
American nation noted
for its connection to
Iran during a political
scandal two decades ago,
is coming under fresh
scrutiny for its ties to
Tehran. Back in the
'80s, Oliver North and
members of the Reagan
administration found
themselves embroiled in
controversy for selling
arms to Iran and
illegally funneling the
profits to the
anti-Communist rebels
know as the contras, who
were fighting the regime
of Daniel Ortega. Now
Ortega is once again
president of Nicaragua —
and apparently forging
new ties with Tehran.
The Nicaragua-Iran
embrace includes four
significant events since
Ortega took office as
the democratically
elected leader of his
country last January.
Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came
to the Nicaraguan
capital Managua to
personally congratulate
Ortega days after his
Jan. 10 inauguration.
Then Ortega borrowed a
jet from Libyan leader
Muammar Gaddafi to visit
Iran in June. Two months
later, Iran and
Venezuela pledged $350
million to build a
seaport near Monkey
Point on Nicaragua's
Caribbean coast. (Tehran
has also been
cultivating an alliance
with oil-rich
Venezuela's President
Hugo Chavez.) And last
Wednesday, the
Nicaraguan foreign
minister returned from
Tehran, where he met
with the foreign
ministers of Syria, Cuba
and Iran. There is now
speculation that
Nicaragua may support
Tehran's bid for a seat
in the U.N. Security
council.
The State Department has
been cryptic in its
assessment of Iran's
role in Nicaragua.
"Iran's track record
does not suggest it
wishes to play a
constructive role in the
hemisphere," David
Foley, a State
Department spokesman on
Middle East issues, said
in an e-mail, then added
in a telephone
interview, "We're not
adjusting our policy in
Nicaragua depending on
what Ahmadinejad is up
to." The Bush
Administration has not
focused on Nicaragua
much at all, despite the
election of the leftist
Ortega. Foley says
merely that Washington
"has a positive agenda
in the hemisphere and we
are working with our
partners to strengthen
democracy, promote
prosperity and invest in
people."
"Nicaragua is a place
you can basically ignore
as long as it is not
doing anything
significantly negative,"
says Dennis Jett, Dean
of the International
Center at the University
of Florida in
Gainesville. However,
Jett and other analysts
wonder whether Tehran's
romancing of Managua may
mark a change in that
status. "You have to
wonder what the Iranians
are thinking as Mr. Bush
goes through his bluster
and threatens military
action against Iran,"
says Jett. "It wouldn't
surprise me that if they
found a willing partner
in Nicaragua that they
would put some terrorist
capability into
Nicaragua and Venezuela,
because it's that much
closer to the United
States if they have to
use it."
Jett says, however, that
if Ortega envisions
making his country a
launch pad for the
Iranians, much the way
Cuba was for the Soviets
in 1962, he could be
courting trouble. "I
don't know that
Nicaraguans would see it
in their best interest
to do that, because then
they would become
targets — in a real
way." Indeed, Jett says,
"It would not only upset
the United States but
all the neighboring
countries in Central
America." Already,
Iran's presence in
Nicaragua has upset
neighboring Honduras,
where two newspapers
recently reported the
arrival of Iranian
diplomats who entered
Honduras from Nicaragua
bent on photographing
hotels, businesses,
embassies and tourist
sites.
Nevertheless, an
alliance between Iran
and Nicaragua could pose
practical security
problems for the U.S.
"[Terrorist activities]
could be much harder to
detect than the Cuban
Missile Crisis," says
Jett. who notes that in
the 1960s satellite
photos detected the
danger, but today a
nuclear bomb can be
hidden in a suitcase and
go undetected. Neither
Managua or Tehran has
much to gain by an
Iranian military
presence, says Jett. "I
would think they would
just keep it covert and
low key to the extent
that they had one."
The real question for
the moment is what Iran
and Venezuela expect to
get in return for their
investment in Nicaragua.
Next November,
delegations from both
countries plans to meet
in Managua to discuss
the seaport. "Nicaragua
must give a 'quid pro
quo' ... because the
other two partners have
not talked about [the
seaport development
being a] gift," says
Roger Guevara, a
Managua-based lawyer and
former Nicaraguan
ambassador to Venezuela,
in an e-mail to TIME.
"Certainly the
Nicaraguan Government
has to study what...
they can offer," he
says. "This includes a
possibility more than
political and diplomatic
support in the
international forums."
A source familiar with
the situation suggests
that Iran may be
positioning itself for a
seat on the United
Nations Security Council
when the selection
process take place next
month. If elected, Iran
would serve a two-year
stint as a temporary
member from the Asia
region. To date, only
Vietnam of the countries
in that region has
formally announced its
candidacy for the post.
Whether Nicaragua would
support Iran in a bid
for the Security Council
remains unknown.
Attempts to interview
the ambassador proved
unsuccessful. |
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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (R) and his
Nicaraguan counterpart Daniel Ortega (L) listen to their
national anthems. |
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