Chicago Debate League 2013/14 Core Files
AC: Venezuela Democracy Affirmative 54
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1AC: Venezuela Democracy Affirmative 542) Maduro is continuing Chavez’ policies of cozying up to Iran in order to create artificial legitimacy for his government. The recent offer of asylum to Snowden shows Maduro is desperate to pull Iran closer by enflaming anti-Americanism. O’GRADY, 13 [Mary, member of the editorial board at The Wall Street Journal and former winner of Walter Judd Freedom Award from The Fund for American Studies; “Why Venezuela Offers Asylum to Snowden,” 7/07, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324399404578590503856740838.html] His offer of refuge to Mr. Snowden is most easily explained as an attempt to distract Venezuelans from the increasingly difficult daily economic grind and get them to rally around the flag by putting a thumb in Uncle Sam's eye. Yet there is something else. Venezuela has reason to fear increasing irrelevance as North America becomes more energy independent. This makes Iran crucial. Mr. Maduro may be trying to establish himself as a leader as committed to the anti-American cause as was his predecessor, Hugo Chávez, who had a strong personal bond with former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He also needs to establish his own place in South American politics. Reaching out to Mr. Snowden is a way to send a message to the world that notwithstanding Secretary of State John Kerry's feeble attempt at rapprochement with Caracas last month, post-Chávez Venezuela has no intention of changing the course of the Bolivarian revolution. Rather, as the economy of the once-wealthy oil nation deteriorates, Mr. Maduro is signaling that Venezuela wants to become an even more loyal geopolitical ally and strategic partner of Russia and Iran. Mr. Maduro's presidency is still viewed as illegitimate by roughly half of the Venezuelan electorate, who voted for challenger Henrique Capriles in April. The official rate of the currency known as the "strong bolívar" is 6.3 to the dollar. But a shortage of greenbacks has forced importers into the black market where the currency trades at somewhere between 31 and 37. There are price controls on just about everything, producing shortages of food and medicine. Even so, inflation is now hovering at around 35%, which means that some vendors are skirting government mandates. In a free society with competitive elections, economic chaos generally prompts a government response designed to mitigate hardship. Venezuela needs liberalization. But that would threaten the profits of the military, which is largely running the country. When the nation ran out of toilet paper in the spring, it was the perfect metaphor for the failed state. But Mr. Maduro's foreign minister, Elias Jaua, responded by scolding Venezuelans for materialism, asking, "Do you want a fatherland or toilet paper?" If the government is saying that it doesn't give a damn about the economic death spiral, this is because it believes it has the nation in a head lock. State control of information—by a president who has now become the world's foremost defender of Mr. Snowden—is almost complete. The last large independent cable television station was finally sold in April and the independent print media market is shrinking. Another tool of repression, which Mr. Snowden supposedly abhors, is the ability to spy on citizens. Chávez had no compunction about recording the conversations of adversaries, and the practice continues under Mr. Maduro. Competing factions inside the government may even be getting into the act. Two recent high-profile cases—one involving a well-known government insider alleging crimes by members of the government in a conversation with the Cuban military, and another targeting an opposition politician—have increased the feeling among citizens that there is no such thing as a private conversation. Yet even a government that locks down the press and spies on its own citizens without answering for it needs allies. No nation can survive in full isolation, especially when its economic power collapses. Latin despots get this. Argentina is depositing goodwill in its account with Iran by blocking Alberto Nisman's trip to Washington. Venezuela, by offering refuge to Edward Snowden, is undoubtedly making a similar offering to the enemies of its enemies. 1AC: Venezuela Democracy Affirmative 553) Iran is using Venezuela to create an intelligence network in Latin America capable of plotting and executing attacks on the United States. Turmoil surrounding Maduro’s election is creating opportunities for greater Iranian involvement. BERMAN, 13 [Ilya, vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council; “Iran on our back porch: Column,” 6/05, http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/06/05/argentina-iran-terrorism-column/2389271/] Last week, Argentine state prosecutor Alberto Nisman dropped a bombshell when he issued his long-awaited indictment in the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israel Mutual Association (AMIA) in Buenos Aires. The 502-page report pins the blame for the attack -- which killed 85 and wounded hundreds more in what experts call Latin America's 9/11 -- squarely on the Islamic Republic of Iran. In doing so, it provides a timely reminder that Iran's radical regime is active in the Western Hemisphere and that its presence here is far broader than is commonly understood. Just how much is still a matter of considerable debate. Iran's activities in the Americas have exploded over the past eight years, propelled in large part by the warm personal ties between outgoing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and recently-deceased Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez. Using Venezuela as a gateway into the region, Tehran succeeded in forging strategic partnerships with like-minded governments in Bolivia and Ecuador, and expanding its contacts with Peru, Nicaragua and a number of other regional players. Despite these gains, however, some experts still tend to see Iran's efforts as little more than an "axis of annoyance." But Nisman's indictment convincingly says otherwise. Over the past three decades, the Argentine brief alleges, Iran has succeeded in quietly erecting a network of intelligence bases and covert centers that spans no fewer than eight Latin American countries: Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Suriname. This infrastructure was instrumental in allowing Iranian proxies to carry out the AMIA bombing, as well as to plot other attacks (such as an unsuccessful 2007 attempt by Guyanese national Abdul Kadir to blow up fuel tanks at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport). Moreover, Nisman has made clear the network enabling Iran to carry out attacks in the region, or against the United States, isn't simply a relic of history. Rather, there's good reason to believe that it remains both intact and functioning. In fact, it could soon get even bigger. That is because the Latin American region as a whole is in a state of profound political flux. In Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, who succeeded Hugo Chavez as president this past April, is presiding over an all-out implosion of the national economy, complete with shortages on commodities such as toilet paper, sugar and flour. Next door in Colombia, the government of President Juan Manuel Santos has embarked upon a complicated and controversial peace process with the extremist FARC militia -- one that could result in the FARC gaining significantly in both political relevance and actual power. Even in Nisman's own Argentina, a new and softer attitude toward Iran has begun to take root, manifested in growing bilateral trade ties and talks of a "truth commission" to reexamine the AMIA case (and, ostensibly, to rewrite history in Tehran's favor). These developments could provide new opportunities for Iran to expand its regional influence and its strategic capabilities. 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