Listen to this articleThe U.S Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Hezbollah is active in Venezuela. Trump administration ratchets up pressure on the Latin American nation amid a crippling political and economic crisis. Pompeo informed Fox Business, “People don’t recognize that Hezbollah has active cells in the country. The Iranians are impacting the people of Venezuela and throughout South America. We have an obligation to take down that risk for America”.
The United States has long considered the Iranian-backed Lebanese group a terrorist organization and sanctions on people in Venezuela linked to Hezbollah have been imposed as far back as the George W Bush administration. Washington also believes Latin America has served as a base of fund-gathering for the group for some years, including through drugs and money-laundering schemes. The former president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez formed strict links with Iran under Mahmoud Ahmedinejad’s leadership.
The claim of Pompeo came as the U.S, the UK, and other EU countries put pressure on Venezuela’s president, Nicolas Maduro for new elections. It was also consistent with Donald Trump’s strong stance against Iran, where the U.S president re-imposed sanctions during last year. The U.S president was the first world leader to recognize Venezuela’s national assembly president Juan Guaido as the nation’s interim president in the month of January.
Maduro has blamed Trump of instigating a coup against him. Russia (a key Maduro ally) has warned against destructive meddling. The former CIA director Pompeo described Maduro as evil later in his Fox interview. He insisted the U.S was intervening on behalf of ordinary Venezuelans who have suffered under his rule. He said, “We should not permit a country in our hemisphere to treat its own people this way, despite Washington’s and the CIA’s inglorious record in the region. He added, “American values America’s, not only our interests but our values are at stake here”.
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