CNSNews wrote:By Leandro Prada
CNSNews.com Correspondent
November 19, 2007
Buenos Aires (CNSNews.com) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has once again raised the specter of developing a nuclear program, saying the aim would be to reduce dependence on oil and combat climate change.
As on previous occasions when Chavez has raised the issue, critics voiced alarm at the notion that a regime led by the anti-American leftist leader may develop a program that while ostensibly peaceful could bring a nuclear weapons capability within reach.
This is the same concern Western and other governments share about Iran, which claims its nuclear program is solely aimed at generating electricity. Skeptics wonder why a major oil producer like Iran needs nuclear energy -- and the same question arises in the case of oil-rich Venezuela.
In an interview last week with French television channel France24, Chavez defended his ally, Iran, against accusations of a covert nuclear weapons ambition.
"I do not think Iran is manufacturing atomic bombs," he said. "Iran is developing nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, I am sure about that. Venezuela is also beginning to develop nuclear energy with peaceful purposes, just like Brazil and Argentina."
Chavez stressed the advantages of nuclear energy in reducing dependence on oil and helping alleviate the effects of climate change -- producing nuclear energy does not emit "greenhouse gases."
In Latin America, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico have nuclear energy programs, according to the World Nuclear Association, a the private-sector organization that promotes the peaceful worldwide use of nuclear power.
Out of the nearly 30 countries that have nuclear plants, the largest holders are the U.S., France, Japan and Russia.
Chavez' comment drew a concerned joint reaction from two Florida lawmakers, Reps. Connie Mack (R) and Ron Klein (D), both members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
"Hugo Chavez has made no secret of his plans to follow in the footsteps of his friend Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran and launch a nuclear program in Venezuela, and now he is following through with his promise," Mack said in a statement.
"Chavez and Ahmadinejad's dangerous alliance, and their desire to develop nuclear technology, should cause great alarm for the United States and its allies in the region," he added.
Klein said the proposed Iran-Venezuela cooperation "is too close to home."
The two lawmakers said the U.S. could not allow "this threat" to develop in the Western hemisphere, and urged the Bush administration to "address this issue and take real steps to stop Chavez in his tracks." Caracas lies some 1,360 miles from Miami.
Chavez has broached the subject of a nuclear program before. In May 2005, Reuters quoted him as saying his country may begin discussions with Tehran about possible nuclear energy projects.
At the time, Brazil's government dismissed any speculation that it would collaborate with a potential Venezuelan program that had links to Iran.
"Brazil is not interested in cooperating with countries that do not follow international treaties and whose nuclear programs are not monitored by competent authorities," a Brazilian Science and Technology Ministry spokesman was quoted as saying.
That same year, the International Relations and Security Network (ISN), a Swiss-based security analysis firm, noted in a report that both Brazil and Argentina had the know-how to help Venezuela develop a nuclear power program if they wished to do so.
And, ISN warned, "Chavez has the money and the political connections to take such a program and bring it close enough to a nuclear weapons program to ensure a believable bluff."
I'm really, really hoping that, unlike Iran, Venezuela shall pursue a nuclear program in such a way that even the most anal retentive inspector is sure they're not hiding anything. Nuclear power is the future, and I'd like my home country to be part of it.
In any case, this just lots of hot air.
