Rubio: No extra Iran Hezbollah presence in Venezuela following Maduro arrest

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The day after elite U.S. forces captured wished narco-terrorist and former Venezuelan chief Nicolás Maduro in Caracas, Secretary of State Marco Rubio introduced that the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist motion Hezbollah will not have operations within the South American state.

The Iranian regime-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization is liable for each the bombing of the U.S. embassy, which killed 63 folks, and the Marine barracks bombing in Beirut in 1983, when 241 U.S. navy personnel have been killed.

Talking on CBS' Face the Nation, Rubio stated, "It is quite simple, okay? Within the twenty first century, underneath the Trump administration, we're not going to have a rustic like Venezuela in our personal hemisphere, within the sphere of management and the crossroads for Hezbollah, for Iran and for each different malign affect on this planet. That is simply not gonna exist." He additionally instructed NBC's Meet the Press that, in regard to Venezuela, that meant, "No extra Iran/Hezbollah presence there."

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Hezbollah members salute and lift the group's yellow flags through the funeral of their fallen comrades Ismail Baz and Mohamad Hussein Shohury, who have been killed in an Israeli strike on their autos, in Shehabiya in south Lebanon on April 17, 2024. (AFP through Getty Photographs)

Walid Phares, who has suggested U.S. presidential candidates and is a number one skilled on Hezbollah, instructed Fox Information Digital that "Hezbollah has a long history in Venezuela and has emerged as a major safety concern in Latin America, significantly after the September 11, 2001 assaults. The origins of Hezbollah’s presence in Venezuela date again to the mid-Eighties, when the group started recruiting members from segments of the native Lebanese diaspora."

He famous that Hezbollah gained better traction following the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’s consolidation of energy in 2002. "Throughout this era, Hezbollah’s presence turned extra seen, with stories indicating that a few of its members gained entry to Venezuelan state institutions , together with safety companies, usually by way of the acquisition of Venezuelan passports and authorized documentation. These developments facilitated the enlargement of Hezbollah-linked networks all through Latin America, extending into Brazil, Argentina and Chile, and reportedly reaching so far as the U.S.–Mexico border."

Phares stated, "Hezbollah is believed to keep up a considerable presence throughout Venezuela, together with command-and-control parts in Caracas. Margarita Island has been regularly cited in open-source reporting as a logistical hub used for actions starting from monetary operations to intelligence gathering and alleged narcotics trafficking. Further public reporting has advised Venezuelan cooperation with Iranian and Hezbollah-linked operations focusing on Iranian dissidents overseas, together with tried kidnappings and intimidation campaigns within the Western Hemisphere."

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The U.S.-designated terrorist group Hezbollah lashed out on the U.S. after it captured Maduro. Hezbollah stated it "condemns the terrorist aggression and American thuggery in opposition to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela" and "additional affirms its full solidarity with Venezuela — its folks, presidency and authorities — in confronting this American aggression and vanity."

The thorny problem of methods to purge the Venezuelan state and society of embedded Hezbollah operatives was addressed by Phares. He stated, "One possibility could be to depend on a post-Maduro transitional authority that has pledged to dismantle terrorist networks. In follow, nevertheless, it's possible that U.S. intelligence and counterterrorism agencies would play a number one function in figuring out and disrupting pro-Iranian networks working inside Venezuelan territory."

Matthew Levitt, a scholar on Hezbollah from the Washington Institute, instructed Fox Information Digital that "It'll all come right down to what sort of regime comes subsequent. Trump’s statements go away that vast open. There may be, nevertheless, a possibility to deal with the longstanding Hezbollah presence in Venezuela, and the strategic relationship between Venezuela and Iran extra broadly."

Carrie Filipetti, govt director of the Vandenberg Coalition, and a former deputy assistant Secretary of State throughout Trump’s first administration, instructed Fox Information Digital, "Among the many some ways through which the Iranian regime and Maduro regime coordinated till Maduro's arrest was offering a secure haven for Hezbollah fighters. Hezbollah took benefit of the shortage of rule of regulation in Venezuela and components of Latin America extra usually to have interaction in cash laundering linked to the drug commerce. They're additionally believed to have used connections inside the Maduro regime to safe Venezuelan passports for members of Hezbollah."

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She famous that "It isn't surprising that the plot to kidnap Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad concerned taking her by speedboat to Caracas. Hezbollah and Iran knew underneath Maduro, they might function with impunity there, unfold anti-American propaganda, and plan anti-American assaults. Whether or not there are any implications for the Maduro- Hezbollah relationship now that Maduro is gone will rely on whether or not regime insiders are allowed to stay in energy or not."

Benjamin Weinthal stories on Israel , Iran , Syria , Turkey and Europe. You may comply with Benjamin on Twitter @BenWeinthal, and e-mail him at benjamin.weinthal@fox.com