Why is Hugo Chavez Afraid of the U.S. Congress?

By Roger F. Noriega | Americas Forum

Bernard Álvarez, the mouthpiece for Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chávez, is feeling the heat. His defensive piece published today in ForeignPolicy.com complains about new Congressional scrutiny of the criminal regime he represents in Washington. In an unusual move for a foreign diplomat, he attacks viciously the new Republican leadership of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, particularly Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Rep. Connie Mack (both R-FL), who are respected as reasonable people and tireless defenders of U.S. interests and values.

It is peculiar that an accredited diplomat does not offer a single word in defense of his government's troubling record in his lengthy essay for a premier online publication. Instead, Álvarez merely attacks those who have the courage to expose Chávez's abuses, aggression, and crimes.

Álvarez's premise is that Ros-Lehtinen and Mack are upset with Chávez because he seeks "independence from the United States." Chávez real offenses are that he has made his once proud country a puppet of the Cuban dictator, aided terrorists from the Middle East to Colombia, abetted drug traffickers, conspired with Iran's rogue nuclear program, and subjected his people to repression, rampant crime, and a failing economy.

He may think that ordering his representative here to savage veteran legislators will isolate or intimidate them.

Álvarez's failure to realize that there is anything wrong with this record is instructive. And his suggestion that more than a handful of client states in the region want anything to do with Chávez's destructive agenda is delusional.

Chávez's ambassador is right about one thing-under the new House leadership, the regime in Caracas will get the attention it deserves on these and other questions:

• If Chávez is allowing Iran to use Venezuela's banking sector in contravention of UN sanctions, then why have there been no consequences?

• If Chávez is trying to develop a nuclear military program with Iran's help, then what are U.S. authorities going to do about it?

• If Chávez is shipping weapons to Middle Eastern, Colombian terrorists and Mexican drug traffickers, then how come no one is going to jail?

• If the state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) is laundering money for Iran, corrupt Chávez cronies and drug traffickers, then why hasn't it been investigated and sanctioned?

• If Venezuelan territory is being used with impunity to transit illegal drugs to Central America, the Caribbean, North America, West Africa, and Europe, then what are governments doing to attack this transnational network?

• If Chávez's regime has shipped arms to Hezbollah and issued Venezuelan passports to its operatives who are plotting in the Americas, then how is our government cooperating to address this security threat?

• If Venezuela is a state sponsor of terrorism, then why hasn't the U.S. State Department labeled it as such, as required by law?

And, why is Bernardo Álvarez allowed to abuse his diplomatic position in Washington while Chávez has refused to admit President Obama's envoy-distinguished career diplomat, Larry Palmer-to enter the country.

Ambassador Álvarez professes to be concerned about the United States and Latin America. If that were the case he would abandon his diplomatic post and tell U.S. Congressional investigators or law enforcement officials what he knows about the criminal enterprises in Caracas. Until then, he is not a diplomat, he's a co-conspirator. And, judging from his Foreign Policy article, he's a very, very nervous co-conspirator.

Chávez is sorely mistaken if he thinks that only "hard-line ideologues" (to use his phrase) are interested in holding his regime accountable for his anti-U.S. aggression and a growing litany of suspected crimes. He may think that ordering his representative here to savage veteran legislators will isolate or intimidate them. My guess is that precisely the opposite is true. Frankly, such thuggish tactics are the hallmark of a desperate, defensive regime.

Roger F. Noriega is a visiting fellow at AEI.