Will the IAEA some day have to shift its attention to northern South America? In a move bound to attract US attention, Venezuelan officials have declared that they are conducting further exploration for uranium deposits. This, combined with President Hugo Chávez’s close ties with Iran and Russia, leads to concerns about transfer of the material for fuel, perhaps in exchange for nuclear technology.
How should the stated desire by Chávez to develop nuclear energy be viewed by the rest of the world? Even oil rich countries will some day have to look elsewhere for its energy needs, but at present Venezuela has no lack of oil resources. The country has sufficient reserves (99.4 billion barrels), based on current production estimates, to last approximately a century.
Might Venezuela one day push beyond the desire for nuclear energy and seek to possess nuclear weapons? Chávez has spent billions on conventional weapons and so seems to have the financial resources, if he wishes, to pursue nukes. At the same time, the Venezuelan government has consistently expressed fears of a foreign invasion and could see the bomb as the ultimate deterrent.
Any move taken by Venezuela to pursue nuclear weapons, however, would go against existing international law. The Treaty of Tlatelolco, drafted in 1967, prohibits the possession of nuclear weapons in the Caribbean and Latin America. Venezuela signed the convention that year and ratified it in 1970. Argentina was the last country in South America to pursue nuclear weapons (nearly three decades ago), but soon halted its efforts and only uses its reactors for energy production.
A few months ago, I wrote about the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. While it appears likely that the war will carry on into the foreseeable future, enough time has passed for us to make an honest assessment of each side’s relative […]
The Ukrainian Army has made dramatic strides in the last few weeks. Ukraine’s tactical commanders have outfoxed their Russian counterparts, and by issuing a feint towards the south the UA has been able to earn substantial gains in the north of their country. The impact of these efforts have been compounded by the steady stream […]
In mid-May the Irish political party, Sinn Féin, won the plurality of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Many American readers might not fully understand the significance of Sinn Féin’s political victory- but rest assured that subjects of the United Kingdom and a wide range of political movements the world over have heard the message […]
The first wave of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has fallen short of Russian autocrat Vladmir Putin’s ambitions. Most analysts deduced that Putin had hoped to achieve a decapitation strike of the Ukrainian government- taking Kiev and replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zolinski with a pro-Kremlin voice. Kiev has been threatened repeatedly through the course of […]
On the weekend of March 26th, the notorious MS-13 gang went on a massive killing spree in El Salvador which left more than 70 people dead by Sunday. Even for a country where powerful gangs hold massive sway, this recent tragedy stands out considering that it was the bloodiest day on record since the civil […]
