Neo-con regime in Washington is stepping up its use of visa denials to punish foreign officials.

February 26, 2006 -- The neo-con regime in Washington is stepping up its use of visa denials to punish foreign officials invited to participate in U.S. conferences and seminars. Well known Indian organic chemistry scientist Professor Goverdhan Mehta of the Indian Institute of Science, who is also the President of the International Council for Science (ICSU) in Paris, was at first denied a visa to the United States to participate in a lecture tour sponsored by the American Chemical Society. The U.S. Consulate in Chennai accused Mehta of being involved in chemical weapons production and bio-warfare. Meht is a past frequent visitor to the United States where he has participated in various academic functions. The U.S. ambassador to India David Mulford called Mehta to apologize for the mistake and offer him a visa. However, Mehta declined the offer. President Bush is scheduled to visit India next month and the Mehta visa denial is expected to draw even more anti-Bush protestors into the streets.

On Feb. 20, Bolivian Senator Leonilda Zurita Vargas, who is a close confidante of Bolivian President Evo Morales, was denied a U.S. visa as she prepared to board a flight to Miami from Viru Viru Aiport in Santa Cruz, Bolivia for a three week speaking tour of the United States. One of her planned stops was the University of Florida, where Professor Mehta was also scheduled to speak. Zurita's visa cancellation was ordered by U.S. ambassador David Greenlee and carried out by U.S. Consul in Santa Cruz Julie Grant.

Earlier, Dr. Waskar Ari, the first Aymara native to receive a PhD from a U.S. university (Georgetown) was denied a visa to teach at the University of Nebraska. Both Zurita and Ari were accused by the neocon Bush regime of having ties to terrorists and extremists, false charges that are a hallmark of the McCarthyite tactics of the neocons. Venezuelan officials have also been denied visas to enter the United States.

Greenlee and Mulford represent a new type of neo-con "vetted and approved" member of the U.S. Foreign Service, a person who is willing to blatantly interfere in the domestic politics of the country to which they are assigned. Similar interference by such neo-con "viceroys" has been particularly seen in Venezuela, Ecuador, Haiti, and other Latin American countries. Interestingly, Greenlee was a Peace Corps "volunteer" in Bolivia in 1967 when a CIA-Bolivian team tracked down and executed Che Guevara. In 1968, Greenlee joined the U.S. Army and served in Vietnam. Greenlee was also a "special coordinator" in Haiti and Political Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv.

Mulford, a political appointee, has even more interesting neo-con credentials. Before his assignment to New Delhi, he was Chairman International of Credit Suisse First Boston and based in London. From 1992 to 2003, Mulford was in charge of Credit Suisse First Boston's worldwide "privatization" and "government advisory assignments." From 1974 to 1983, Mulford was a senior investment advisor for the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA). From 1984 to 1992, Mulford was Under Secretary and Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury for International Affairs, which included the time frame of the BCCI and Iran-contra scandals that involved illicit money flows and secret off-shore CIA bank accounts and other off-the-books activities -- activities for which Mulfrod had oversight.

Mulford and Greenlee: new breed of neo-con ambassadors/viceroys who keep enemy lists for visa denial and other political retaliation

In another body blow to the neo-con foreign policy, the recent victory of Rene Preval in Haiti's elections, after a blatant neo-con attempt to manipulate the vote Iraqi-style and force Preval into a run-off, will result in another defeat for Bush foreign adventurism. Preval will allow democratically-elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, forced out in a U.S.-backed coup, to return to Haiti from exile in South Africa.