>> Until now, the United States certainly has had a concern over Iranian penetration in South America, and not just in Venezuela. One reason why Donald Trump adopted the “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran was to curtail its global ambitions against the West, especially in energy-rich areas. Most of the attention from the media fell on the immediate region around Iran, such as the “land bridge” strategy through Syria to the Mediterranean and the encirclement strategy against the Saudis with Hezbollah and the Houthis. >> However, Iran has long tried a similar diplomatic/economic/political encirclement strategy against the US in South America. They conducted a terrorist attack against Jews in Argentina and penetrated the Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner government to cover it up, for instance. And their attempts to boost the Chavez-Maduro regime have been known well enough, including a recent attempt to ship refined gasoline to the collapsed socialist state. But a Venezuelan bishop sends out a warning that Iran’s military is attempting something else entirely: