|
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
and wire service reports
International relations between the United States and Iran have become
so tense that expats here will be demonstrating against a possible war.
That will be Saturday in San José.
One of those doing so will be Carlos Arredondo, a Costa Rican who
is a naturalized U.S. citizen. He made headlines in the United States
in 2004 when he torched the van that Marines used to bring him the news
of his son's death in action in Iraq. Another son, Brian Luis,
committed suicide in 2011, and Arredondo blames that act on depression
brought about by the death of the first son, Alexander.
Carlos and Mélida Arredondo will be joined by Jim
Scarborough, who was identified in a news release as a member of
Veterans for Peace. He served in Vietnam. The Arrendondos are members
of Military Families Speak Out, the release said.
The demonstration is to be held on the pedestrian mall in downtown San
José west of the Plaza de la Cultura. The action here is in
unison with other demonstrations in the United States against a new war.
Thursday James Clapper, the director of U.S. national
intelligence told the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on
Foreign Affairs that senior Iranian officials are "now more willing to
conduct an attack in the United States." He said Iran is trying
to penetrate and engage in the Western Hemisphere.
Iran is developing or has developed a nuclear weapon and makes no
secret of the desire of officials there to use it on nearby Israel.
Some reports this week said that Iran also is developing a medium range
missile that could hit New York and major European cities.
Members of the U.S. congressional panel also expressed concern Thursday
that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's ties to several Latin
American leaders could pose a threat to U.S. national security.
Some U.S. lawmakers and military leaders have said they feel
Ahmadinejad is reckless enough to engage Israel and the United States.
His government already has threatened to use force against U.S.
warships operating in the Persian Gulf.
The chairwoman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen, said some people might question whether the Iranian-Latin
American connection is a threat, but she said there is cause for
concern.
"Iran’s Ahmadinejad recently returned from his ‘Tour of Tyrants’ trip
to visit Venezuela,
|
File photo by Andy Carvin
Carlos Arredondo at a Jan.
27, 2007 Iraq war protest in Washington D.C.
Nicaragua, Cuba and Ecuador. Media reports
have
indicated an increased presence of Iran’s Quds Force in these countries
and offices of Iran’s intelligence services surfacing throughout the
region," said Rep. Ros-Lehtinen. "The fact that the military arm of a
state-sponsor of terrorism has its operatives within multiple countries
in our hemisphere is certainly cause for alarm and merits congressional
focus."
Obama administration officials say the United States is keeping a close
watch on Ahmadinejad's ties to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.
During
Ahmadinejad's recent visit to Venezuela, he and Chávez praised
each
other and joked about concerns in the West about Iran's relations with
Latin America.
The United States and Europe have been tightening sanctions on Iran in
recent months because of Iran's nuclear program. Iran says its program
is for peaceful purposes. Also on Thursday, the U.S. Senate Banking
Committee approved tough new sanctions on Iran, which now will have to
go to the full Senate floor.
Arredondo, who lives in Barrio México, also is known as El
Gringo when
he joins other informal bull fighters in the ring at Zapote. He was
living in Hollywood, Florida, when the Marine casualty assistance team
brought word of his son's death in An Najaf, Iraq. The 20-year-old
Marine was on his second tour of duty in that country and died from
gunfire.
Arredondo described the experience in the left-leaning magazine The
Nation. He became highly agitated at the news and took a can of
gasoline
and a propane torch into the Marine van. But he said that the ignition
was accidental. He was burned but blown clear by the subsequent
explosion. He said he attended his son's wake on a stretcher due to the
serious burns.
He spent a year recovering and then became an anti-war activist. U.S.
Sen. Edward Kennedy helped him obtain his citizenship in 2006.
|
