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Latin American Program in the News: Iran Cultivates Friends In Washington's Backyard

Cindy Arnson

Cynthia Arnson was interviewed by Juan Forero for NPR on the recent visit of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Latin America and his interest in the region.


Cynthia Arnson was interviewed by Juan Forero for NPR on the recent visit of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Latin America and his interest in the region. 

NPR, 1/9/2012

"Cynthia Arnson, director of the Latin American Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, says Ahmadinejad's arrival in Venezuela permits Iran to claim it still has friends.

"And it's particularly useful to have allies in Latin America, which has traditionally been considered the United States' backyard. So it's a really important way of thumbing its nose at Washington and making common political cause with governments in the region who also share an anti-imperialist and anti-U.S. ideology," Arnson says.

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About the Author

Cindy Arnson

Cynthia J. Arnson

Distinguished Fellow and Former Director, Latin America Program
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Latin America Program

The Wilson Center’s prestigious Latin America Program provides non-partisan expertise to a broad community of decision makers in the United States and Latin America on critical policy issues facing the Hemisphere. The Program provides insightful and actionable research for policymakers, private sector leaders, journalists, and public intellectuals in the United States and Latin America. To bridge the gap between scholarship and policy action, it fosters new inquiry, sponsors high-level public and private meetings among multiple stakeholders, and explores policy options to improve outcomes for citizens throughout the Americas. Drawing on the Wilson Center’s strength as the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum, the Program serves as a trusted source of analysis and a vital point of contact between the worlds of scholarship and action.  Read more