WikiLeaks: U.S. saw Israeli firm's rise in Latin America as a threat

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Monday, May 9, 2011
WikiLeaks: U.S. saw Israeli firm's rise in Latin America as a threat
By Tim Johnson | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — A security company led by the former head of operations for the Israeli military made such inroads into Latin America a few years ago that U.S. diplomats saw it as a security risk and moved to thwart the company's expansion, U.S. diplomatic cables show.

The diplomats' efforts were made easier when an interpreter for the Israeli firm, Global CST, was caught peddling classified Colombian Defense Ministry documents to Marxist guerrillas seeking to topple the state, one cable said.

Still, the ability of the Israeli security consultancy to obtain contracts in Colombia, Peru and Panama in rapid succession speaks to the prowess of retired Israeli military officers in peddling security know-how amid perceptions that they'd bring better results than official U.S. government assistance.

At one point, Panama's intelligence chief threatened to rely more heavily on the Israelis out of anger that U.S. officials wouldn't tap the phones of the president's political enemies, according to then cables. U.S. officials countered that such an arrangement would threaten all security cooperation with Panama, and the Panamanians backed down.

More:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/05/09/113919/wikileaks-us-saw-israeli-firms.html