Less than 48 hours after the US operation against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, his government is, at this stage, still functioning, his vice president is acting as head of state, and it is not yet clear what Venezuela’s relations with Iran and Hezbollah will look like in the new era.
That said, it is already evident that the fact that Maduro is no longer the country’s dictator, and that everything that happens in Venezuela from now on will be under American supervision. This constitutes a severe blow to the operational base of Tehran and the Lebanese terrorist organization in South America.
Since Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez, came to power in 1999, relations between Tehran and Caracas have tightened significantly. During his first visit to Iran in 2001, Chávez declared that he had arrived “to help pave the way for peace, justice, stability, and progress in the 21st century.”
Nearly 300 economic, infrastructure, gas, and oil agreements were signed, worth billions of dollars. At one point, Venezuela even considered selling F-16 fighter jets to Tehran, while Iran supplied Venezuela with advanced Mohajer-6 drones.
“Already in 2022, when I served as defense minister, I exposed the growing ties between Maduro’s Venezuela and Iran,” former defense minister Benny Gantz wrote on X/Twitter. “While one hand armed the rogue regime in Venezuela with advanced drones, the other Venezuelan hand sent tons of drugs to kill Americans around the world.” Iran and Venezuela also assisted each other in oil-smuggling operations.
The terror connection between the two countries was exposed publicly in 2022, when an Argentine court detained a Venezuelan-owned cargo plane carrying five Iranians, including a commander and operatives from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force.
In 2021, US authorities thwarted a plot to kidnap exiled Iranian journalist Masih Alinejad from her home in New York and transport her to Venezuela, and from there to Iran.
Hezbollah and the Maduro regime also maintained close ties. Over the years, the terrorist organization established a foothold in Venezuela, largely due to the Lebanese community that migrated there following the Lebanese Civil War in the 1970s.
Hezbollah possesses large Venezuela-based narcotics infrastructure
Hezbollah has managed to sustain itself financially through drug-smuggling networks and cooperation with various criminal actors. The Chávez and Maduro governments, which turned a blind eye to these activities and, according to US authorities, even stood at the head of drug cartels, created fertile ground for such cooperation.
Brian Townsend, a DEA agent, described their role as follows: “They launder money and provide networks that help cartels move funds through the Middle East. They take a cut of the drug trade, which finances their operations.” In recent years, the connection between the two entities became so significant that senior Venezuelan government officials effectively worked for Hezbollah.
Tareck El Aissami served as Venezuela’s vice president and later as petroleum minister until 2023. While in office, he faced US allegations of corruption, money laundering, and drug trafficking, including activities linked to Hezbollah.
In Israel, officials assess that Hezbollah operatives and members of the IRGC obtained local citizenship, allowing them to move freely across South America and expand their influence. In addition, it is believed that Venezuela served as a base for Iranian and Hezbollah terrorist operations.
However, it remains unclear which attempted operations originating from Venezuelan territory were successful and which of the attacks that were ultimately carried out against various targets can be definitively traced back to the country.
“I want to express the full support of the entire government for the determined decision and action taken by President Trump and the United States to restore freedom and justice to this region of the world as well,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the opening of the cabinet meeting.
It is clear that drug-smuggling from Venezuela will now be significantly reduced due to the deep American involvement in the country, which is beginning at this stage. And with Tehran firmly in Trump’s sights, it is obvious that the current regime will seek to distance itself from these activities.
Therefore, even if this is not a zero-sum outcome, the effects of Maduro’s downfall are also being felt in the Middle East.