Chavez and Ahmedinajad: An Unlikely Alliance?

- Meghan Lenchyshyn

With tensions continuing to grow in virtually ever corner of the Middle East, it is not surprising that leaders of countries in this part of the world might begin to look elsewhere for new alliances and trading partners. Anti-American sentiment is as strong as ever and with it comes the desire to disassociate from all things American. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinajad has been vocally doing just that, perpetuated by his choice of alliances. As of late, Ahmedinajad has allied himself with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in an attempt to further polarize Iran and Venezuela, as well as other developing nations of the world, from what they perceive as the American imperialist agenda.

Recently, Iran’s political leader embarked upon a four day Latin American tour. During this tour, Ahmedinajad and Chavez agreed to contribute billions of dollars in order to help other countries free themselves from “US domination.” Chavez states that the fund is a “mechanism for liberation”, allowing Tehran and Caracas to “underpin investments above all in those countries whose governments are making an effort to liberate themselves from the US imperialist yoke”. In addition, both leaders have called for OPEC to cut oil production as a means of supporting falling crude oil prices.

Ahmedinajad stated that “Tehran and Caracas have the task of promoting revolutionary thought in the world” and Iran is attempting to demonstrate to the international community that it has support from other nations. Engaging other nations, especially Latin American countries as well as those in opposition to the United States, has always been part of Chavez’s agenda, and this newly formed alliance with Ahmedinajad can be viewed as a step towards no longer having to rely on the United States and the West.

So what, then, does this friendship mean for the United States? Chavez has openly and, might I add very outspokenly, stated his unabashed support for Iran’s nuclear program. By allying himself with Ahmedinajad, Chavez is essentially placing Iran in America’s backyard. Clear correlations can be drawn between the Castro-Krushchev relationship of the 1960’s, and the current Iran-Venezuela alliance, and serve to revive polarizing tensions. This is very much a case of the enemies of the United States utilizing that same weapon of absolutism as does the current US administration. While neither are really a menace to the well being of the US, they factor into an overall climate of insecurity.

At the end of the day, what we have is two revolutionaries blowing hot air. Neither country has any real belief that they can remove the US or the West from power, they seek merely to place themselves in direct opposition to the US, gain legitimacy as advocates of change in the Third World, and thus can no longer be pushed around in the international arena. And, after the Iraqi misadventure, can you blame them?