The United States has declared the Venezuelan consul general in Miami persona non grata and ordered her expulsion, a State Department official said Sunday.
The State Department had said last month it was looking into “very disturbing” allegations that Noguera was a participant in an alleged Iranian plot to launch cyber-attacks on sensitive US national security facilities.
QUESTION: Mark, are you aware of the allegations against the Venezuelan consul general in Miami? She was allegedly involved when she was a diplomat in Mexico with attempted cyber attacks against U.S. (inaudible) installations. There are a number of people on the Hill – more than just a few, more than just the usual suspects, although the usual suspects are among them – who are -- MR. TONER: Is this based on a Univision report? QUESTION: Yeah. Who are calling on you guys to expel her. MR. TONER: And this is talking about Iranian -- QUESTION: No. It has – yes. MR. TONER: Okay. Okay. Well, I just would say that we, obviously, take Iranian activity in the hemisphere seriously. We monitor its activities closely. And the – we constantly monitor for possible connections between terrorists and transnational criminals. We did see, obviously, as I mentioned, the Univision report and are cognizant of the allegations it made and – very disturbing. We don’t have any information to – at this point, to corroborate it. QUESTION: Wait. Which allegations? MR. TONER: About the -- QUESTION: About this woman? MR. TONER: About this woman. QUESTION: Are you looking into it? MR. TONER: And we’re looking into it. Yeah. QUESTION: It’s being investigated? MR. TONER: Yeah. And continue to assess what additional actions we might take. QUESTION: And is expelling her or PNGing her among the options? MR. TONER: There’s a number of different options on the table. QUESTION: Which are? MR. TONER: Well -- QUESTION: Can you rule out the military option? MR. TONER: (Laughter.) Yes. QUESTION: You can? MR. TONER: Well, look, I just would say that we’re looking into it at this point. We’re trying to get more details. We’re trying to corroborate the report. And at that point, we’ll assess what possible actions we might take. Read more: http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/texttrans/2011/12/20111212175826su0.1762158.html?CP.rss=true#ixzz1iuaI5qWY
And let us remember: Venezuela's oil reserves are incredibly rich. Venezuela, like Iran, does not engage in private central banking. Venezuela may be on Obama's "to do list" after Iran to affect "regime change" because of those two issues.
Realist - Everybody in America is soft, and hates conflict. The cure for this, both in politics and social life, is the same -- hardihood. Give them raw truth.
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