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talkpoliticsHezbollah is conducting illegal activities in Bolivia, Venezuelan opposition MP Carlos Paparoni has reported at an anti-terrorism summit in Colombia. Venezuelan president Maduro was directly accused of harboring friendly relations with the Lebanese terrorist organization.
Paparoni claims he has evidence of links between Maduro's regime and Iran's proxy in Lebanon. Maduro, of course, denies all this, but Israel keeps insisting that it's true.
Mike Pompeo has often said Iran is trying to get a foot in Latin America various Middle Eastern proxies. And he's not the first one. These concerns are actually older than Trump's presidency, but now they've intensified. So far the allegations of a Hezbollah presence in Latin America were mostly related to arms and drugs trade, but now there are increasing reports of activity in the triangle between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, and now reports about Hezbollah interests in Mexico. There's also the fact that Obama largely let Hezbollah off the hook for the sake of striking a nuclear deal with Iran. The main basis for these relations is the strong link of the local Arab communities with Lebanon.
But Venezuela is the biggest concern. The main figure behind the trade, military and political links of Maduro's regime with Hezbollah is said to be one Tareck El Aissami, former vice president of Venezuela, former governor of the northern state of Aragua (the main area of Hezbollah's activities in Venezuela), himself of Syrian/Lebanese origin.
About 6 years ago, one Mary Anastasia O'Grady made an extensive investigation for WSJ about the so called Iran-Cuba-Venezuela Nexus, elaborating on much of these relations.
Two Lebanese companies are reportedly operating in the state of Aragua, Parchin Chemical Industries and Qods Aviation Industries. They've participated in developing various defense enterprises with the Venezuelans, and the Iranian regime was mostly interested in ammo and rocket fuel. A special US House committee in 2015 heard witness testament that El Aissami had created an elaborate financial network on many levels, which is being used as a criminal and terrorist corridor in the Western Hemisphere.
Venezuela has also been accused of giving out fake passports to Hezbollah operatives so they could move freely across the region. Many of these people have later been found to be conducting illegal activities across Latin America. Venezuela of course denies everything, and calls it US propaganda.
The subject has gained extra urgency now after the murder of Soleimani, the Al Quds commander. Iran may've seemed to have only settled to a mere symbolic missile strike on some US facilities in Iraq, without causing much damage. But let's not fool ourselves, the demise of the regime's right hand action-man won't go without a major response. It's telling that the incident was almost instantly followed by a Beirut meeting of the heads of the major Shia organizations in the Middle East, which indicates that they've been planning a much bigger response.
So don't be surprised when US interests get suddenly hit in a big way somewhere in the Western Hemisphere.
Paparoni claims he has evidence of links between Maduro's regime and Iran's proxy in Lebanon. Maduro, of course, denies all this, but Israel keeps insisting that it's true.
Mike Pompeo has often said Iran is trying to get a foot in Latin America various Middle Eastern proxies. And he's not the first one. These concerns are actually older than Trump's presidency, but now they've intensified. So far the allegations of a Hezbollah presence in Latin America were mostly related to arms and drugs trade, but now there are increasing reports of activity in the triangle between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, and now reports about Hezbollah interests in Mexico. There's also the fact that Obama largely let Hezbollah off the hook for the sake of striking a nuclear deal with Iran. The main basis for these relations is the strong link of the local Arab communities with Lebanon.
But Venezuela is the biggest concern. The main figure behind the trade, military and political links of Maduro's regime with Hezbollah is said to be one Tareck El Aissami, former vice president of Venezuela, former governor of the northern state of Aragua (the main area of Hezbollah's activities in Venezuela), himself of Syrian/Lebanese origin.
About 6 years ago, one Mary Anastasia O'Grady made an extensive investigation for WSJ about the so called Iran-Cuba-Venezuela Nexus, elaborating on much of these relations.
Two Lebanese companies are reportedly operating in the state of Aragua, Parchin Chemical Industries and Qods Aviation Industries. They've participated in developing various defense enterprises with the Venezuelans, and the Iranian regime was mostly interested in ammo and rocket fuel. A special US House committee in 2015 heard witness testament that El Aissami had created an elaborate financial network on many levels, which is being used as a criminal and terrorist corridor in the Western Hemisphere.
Venezuela has also been accused of giving out fake passports to Hezbollah operatives so they could move freely across the region. Many of these people have later been found to be conducting illegal activities across Latin America. Venezuela of course denies everything, and calls it US propaganda.
The subject has gained extra urgency now after the murder of Soleimani, the Al Quds commander. Iran may've seemed to have only settled to a mere symbolic missile strike on some US facilities in Iraq, without causing much damage. But let's not fool ourselves, the demise of the regime's right hand action-man won't go without a major response. It's telling that the incident was almost instantly followed by a Beirut meeting of the heads of the major Shia organizations in the Middle East, which indicates that they've been planning a much bigger response.
So don't be surprised when US interests get suddenly hit in a big way somewhere in the Western Hemisphere.
