Hezbollah’s growing foothold in Latin America has found its epicenter in Venezuela, where U.S. lawmakers and former counterterror officials say the Maduro regime has turned the country into a safe haven for one of the world’s most dangerous terrorist groups. (AFP via Getty Images)
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, both warned that Hezbollah’s 50-year presence in Latin America now poses a hemispheric threat requiring coordinated U.S. action.
Ambassador Nathan Sales, the former counterterrorism coordinator at the State Department, urged more Latin American nations — especially Brazil and Mexico — to designate Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization.
The bipartisan tone, rare in today’s Congress, underscored what lawmakers called a clear and present danger — a sanctioned regime in America’s backyard providing cover to a global terror group.
"Venezuela has become a key enabler of Hezbollah’s malign activity in our region," Sales testified.
"This is not just about the Middle East anymore," Cornyn added. "It’s about a terrorist organization embedding itself in the Western Hemisphere under the protection of a hostile regime."
Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, went a step further, predicting that the United States will move to end Nicolás Maduro’s rule altogether.
"I think we’re going to free Venezuela," Moreno said. "That will be one of President Trump’s many, many legacies. It’s long past due, and I think his days are numbered." (Carlos Becerra/Getty Images)
He and others warned that as sanctions squeeze Iran and Hezbollah’s financial channels in the Middle East, the group is relying more heavily on Latin American drug profits to sustain itself.
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Matthew Levitt of the Washington Institute said Venezuela has effectively joined what he called the "axis of evasion," a global sanctions-defying network linking Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.
"Venezuela plays an important part in this illicit network as it reaches the Western Hemisphere," Levitt said, describing its role in gold smuggling, oil-for-cash deals and financial cover for Iran and Hezbollah.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/gop-senator-predicts-trumps-next-move-venezuela-amid-hezbollahs-influence-long-past-due