Iran providing support for Venezuelan despot

 Washington Free Beacon:

Maduro's oppressive regime has faced down months of U.S. opposition and sanctions by forming "an extensive relationship with several foreign terrorist organizations, including Hezbollah and its terror sponsor the Islamic Republic of Iran," according to a new report published by the Atlantic Council and the Center for a Secure Free Society, a national security think tank.

The relationship is centered on keeping the anti-U.S. Maduro in power and solidifying Iran's terrorist footprint in Latin America, which has long served as an operational hub for Hezbollah forces. Iran has found an ally in Maduro, who has accepted millions of barrels of Iranian crude oil in recent months—a central lifeline for the isolated Venezuelan regime. In return, Maduro has opened Venezuela's borders to Iranian operatives and terror affiliates like Hezbollah, according to the report. Details about this relationship are likely to renew concerns about Iran's operations near the U.S. southern border, which could pose a direct threat to the American homeland.

Hezbollah's operations in Latin America—which include drug trafficking and other illicit activities—have provided the group with significant cash resources and the ability to evade international sanctions. The blossoming relationship with Maduro has fortified the Iranian terror group's operations in the region and paved the way for Hezbollah's External Security Organization to embed itself into Venezuela's economy.

"The Hezbollah support network in Venezuela is embedded to the Maduro regime's illicit economies of drugs, weapons, gold, contraband, etc. moving through a trade-based money-laundering network (TBML) based out of Colombia and Panama," according to the report.

The relationship between Iran and Venezuela has grown in concert with Hezbollah, as evidenced earlier this year by Iran's sanctions-busting voyage into North American waters. Iranian oil tankers arrived in Venezuela in late May, fueling worries about a potential confrontation between the Trump administration and Tehran. Iran, through its national Mahan Air, made 17 trips to Venezuela in the span of two months this year. Maduro's regime reportedly paid Iran nearly half a billion dollars in gold bars as part of a scheme known as "oil for gold."

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 A Biden victory could also be a lifeline to the Venezuelan despot and his Iranian allies. He has said he will reinstate Obama's terrible deal with Iran. That would destabilize the Middle East and allow free rein to Irnaian sponsor terrorists in South America.