Rubio vows to eliminate Hezbollah, Iran operations from Venezuela after Maduro capture

The time after elite U.S. forces captured wanted narco-terrorist and erstwhile Venezuelan person Nicolás Maduro successful Caracas, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the Iran-backed Lebanese violent question Hezbollah volition nary longer person operations successful the South American state.

The Iranian regime-backed Hezbollah violent enactment is liable for some the bombing of the U.S. embassy, which killed 63 people, and the Marine barracks bombing successful Beirut successful 1983, erstwhile 241 U.S. subject unit were killed.

Speaking connected CBS' Face the Nation, Rubio said, "It's precise simple, okay? In the 21st century, nether the Trump administration, we are not going to person a state similar Venezuela successful our ain hemisphere, successful the sphere of power and the crossroads for Hezbollah, for Iran and for each different malign power successful the world. That's conscionable not gonna exist." He besides told NBC's Meet the Press that, successful respect to Venezuela, that meant, "No much Iran/Hezbollah beingness there."

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Hezbollah members salute and rise the group's yellowish flags during the ceremonial of their fallen comrades Ismail Baz and Mohamad Hussein Shohury, who were killed successful an Israeli onslaught connected their vehicles, successful Shehabiya successful southbound Lebanon connected April 17, 2024.  (AFP via Getty Images)

Walid Phares, who has advised U.S. statesmanlike candidates and is simply a starring adept connected Hezbollah, told Fox News Digital that "Hezbollah has a agelong past successful Venezuela and has emerged arsenic a important information interest successful Latin America, peculiarly aft the September 11, 2001 attacks. The origins of Hezbollah’s beingness successful Venezuela day backmost to the mid-1980s, erstwhile the enactment began recruiting members from segments of the section Lebanese diaspora."

He noted that Hezbollah gained greater traction pursuing the precocious Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’s consolidation of powerfulness successful 2002. "During this period, Hezbollah’s beingness became much visible, with reports indicating that immoderate of its members gained entree to Venezuelan authorities institutions, including information agencies, often done the acquisition of Venezuelan passports and ineligible documentation. These developments facilitated the enlargement of Hezbollah-linked networks passim Latin America, extending into Brazil, Argentina and Chile, and reportedly reaching arsenic acold arsenic the U.S.–Mexico border."

Phares said, "Hezbollah is believed to support a important beingness crossed Venezuela, including command-and-control elements successful Caracas. Margarita Island has been often cited successful open-source reporting arsenic a logistical hub utilized for activities ranging from fiscal operations to quality gathering and alleged narcotics trafficking. Additional nationalist reporting has suggested Venezuelan practice with Iranian and Hezbollah-linked operations targeting Iranian dissidents abroad, including attempted kidnappings and intimidation campaigns successful the Western Hemisphere."

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The U.S.-designated violent enactment Hezbollah lashed retired astatine the U.S. aft it captured Maduro. Hezbollah said it "condemns the violent aggression and American thuggery against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela" and "further affirms its afloat solidarity with Venezuela — its people, presidency and authorities — successful confronting this American aggression and arrogance."

The thorny situation of however to purge the Venezuelan authorities and society of embedded Hezbollah operatives was addressed by Phares. He said, "One enactment would beryllium to trust connected a post-Maduro transitional authorization that has pledged to dismantle violent networks. In practice, however, it is apt that U.S. quality and counterterrorism agencies would play a starring relation successful identifying and disrupting pro-Iranian networks operating wrong Venezuelan territory."

Matthew Levitt, a student connected Hezbollah from the Washington Institute, told Fox News Digital that "It volition each travel down to what benignant of authorities comes next. Trump’s statements permission that wide open. There is, however, an accidental to code the longstanding Hezbollah beingness successful Venezuela, and the strategical narration betwixt Venezuela and Iran much broadly."

Carrie Filipetti, enforcement manager of the Vandenberg Coalition, and a erstwhile lawman adjunct Secretary of State during Trump’s archetypal administration, told Fox News Digital, "Among the galore ways successful which the Iranian authorities and Maduro authorities coordinated until Maduro's apprehension was providing a harmless haven for Hezbollah fighters. Hezbollah took vantage of the deficiency of regularisation of instrumentality successful Venezuela and parts of Latin America much mostly to prosecute successful wealth laundering connected to the cause trade. They are besides believed to person utilized connections wrong the Maduro authorities to unafraid Venezuelan passports for members of Hezbollah."

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She noted that "It isn't a astonishment that the crippled to kidnap Iranian American writer Masih Alinejad progressive taking her by speedboat to Caracas. Hezbollah and Iran knew nether Maduro, they could run with impunity there, dispersed anti-American propaganda, and program anti-American attacks. Whether determination are immoderate implications for the Maduro- Hezbollah narration present that Maduro is gone volition beryllium connected whether authorities insiders are allowed to stay successful powerfulness oregon not."