Senate Hearing Warns Venezuela Is Hezbollah’s Latin American Hub

Overview

• A bipartisan Senate International Narcotics Control Caucus hearing this week examined Hezbollah’s activities in the Western Hemisphere and highlighted testimony portraying Venezuela under Nicolás Maduro as a safe haven and facilitator.
• Marshall Billingslea testified that Venezuelan authorities issued more than 10,000 passports to individuals from Syria, Lebanon, and Iran, including some with known ties to Hezbollah or Hamas, enabling travel and identity concealment.
• Former State Department counterterrorism coordinator Nathan Sales said Hezbollah is embedded in regional drug networks, including the trafficking of so-called black cocaine, and urged Brazil and Mexico to fully designate the group as a terrorist organization.
• Experts described a deepening Venezuela–Iran partnership and sanctions-evasion schemes involving gold, oil, and illicit finance, casting Venezuela as a regional narcoterrorism hub.
• Senators discussed stronger responses under consideration, including broader regional terrorist designations and evaluating a terrorism label for Venezuela, while one senator predicted regime change; no new coordinated policy actions were announced.