New York Times, 21 July 2010: The trial of two men accused of plotting to attack Kennedy International Airport took an unexpected twist on Wednesday when prosecutors suggested that one of the men, a former government official in Guyana, spent decades secretly working as an Iranian spy — passing along information about the country’s economy, foreign policy and military to Iranian officials.
The former government official, Abdul Kadir, admitted under cross-examination that he drafted regular reports for the Iranian ambassador to Venezuela, which included details like the low morale in the Guyanese army. The documents he drafted included a five-year development plan to promote Islam in Guyana, which included references to infiltrating the military, police and other government agencies. . . .
Courthouse News, 24 June 2010: In a case that “read[s] like the latest spy thriller,” the 11th Circuit ruled that a Venezuelan man cannot collect a $5 million reward for his role in the capture of Vladimiro Lenin Montesinos Torres, Peru’s murderous former spy chief. Montesinos was the head of Peru’s National Intelligence Agency in the 1990s but fled the county after videotape evidence implicated him in crimes ranging from arms trafficking, drug dealing, money laundering, extortion, bribery and murder. Peru offered a $5 million reward for Montesinos’ capture.
Jose Guevara, a former officer in the Venezuelan intelligence agency, harbored the fugitive in Caracas, helping Montesinos recover from plastic surgery and acting as his intermediary with the Pacific Industrial Bank in Miami, where Montesinos had a bank account. When the bank officer assigned to the account, Luis Percovich, refused to transfer Montesinos’ money to another bank, the former spy chief sent Guevara to the states to threaten Percovich, who called the FBI. Agents arrested Guevara in Miami and told him that he would not be charged if he gave up Montesinos. Guevara agreed, and the fugitive was captured in Venezuela a short time later. . . .
Reuters, 29 April 2010: A respected Venezuela general who retired this month said the presence of Cuban soldiers in the army’s highest decision-making levels was a security threat, backing opposition criticism of President Hugo Chavez.
Cuban doctors, teachers and sports instructors have flooded into Venezuela since Chavez took office 11 years ago, bringing healthcare to poor neighbourhoods but angering critics who say the nation is becoming a copy of the communist island.
In an interview with Reuters late on Tuesday, General Antonio Rivero said Chavez was remodelling the army along Cuban lines. He said Cuban military advisers had a free run of the country since 2007 and had access to privileged information. . . .
. . . . He said Cubans were present in Venezuela’s Strategic Operational Command, the top planning body in the military, and that while the foreigners did not have positions of command, their advice often overruled that of regular soldiers. “One thing is to learn from them, another to receive instructions.” . . . .
♦ CI CENTRE COURSE: 158–Venezuela: An Introduction to Myriad National Security Threats to America
♦ CI CENTRE COURSE: 159– An Introduction to Cuban Intelligence and Counterintelligence Methodologies
DEBKAfile, 26 April 2010: This relatively cheap, extra-smart, easy-to-use Club-K Container Missile System, which Moscow has put on the open market, allows cruise missiles concealed in freight containers to be launched from a prepositioned or moving land or sea platform. It is virtually undetectable by radar until activated. No wonder, Iran and Venezuela were keenly interested when the Club-K was put on the market at the Defense Services Asia exhibition in Malaysia this week for $15 million.
Western military experts are calling it a “real maritime fear for anyone with a waterfront.” The container-cum-missiles, carried by a ship, fishing vessel or truck can approach a targeted coast, highway or international railway and strike behind the target’s missile defenses without alerting radar monitors or even surveillance drones and satellites.
In Iranian hands, it would make the targeting of its nuclear facilities very difficult. Able to wipe out an aircraft carrier up to 400 kilometers away, the system’s manufacturer, Novator, is directing its marketing tactics at anyone under threat of military action from the United States. One expert accused the Russians of proliferating ballistic missiles on an unheard-of scale.
At the Malaysian exhibition, the marketing film showed the Club-K being activated from an ordinary truck. . . .
