The Americas Report has previously written about the links between Hezbollah and the Venezuelan government’s support of the FARC, stemming from the unholy anti-American alliance between the presidents of Iran and Venezuela. Since the establishment of the Iran-Venezuela Joint Bank, the relationship has moved from a passive appreciation to a more active support role, which it is speculated will lead to increased funding for Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Troubling developments included intercepted shipments of goods and weapons from Iran to Venezuela, stopped by Turkey in 2008 and the establishment of regular flights between the two countries when no corresponding civilian travel demand exists. In light of this, it is worth considering whether their relationship could be taken to the next logical level, with Venezuela joining the State Sponsors of Terrorism List, which is updated by the State Department every year.

The U.S. government has already taken the step of imposing sanctions on Venezuela’s primary oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), which it did in May of 2011.

Those sanctions were imposed on the base of a bill signed by President Obama in July 2010 July 2010. The bill, called Accountability and Divestment Act, provides state and local governments with the legal authority to divest their assets, including public plan assets, from any person who engages in certain “investment activities” in Iran.

The Iran Act defines covered “investment activities” as those investments of $20 million or more in the energy sector of Iran, including individuals and corporations that provide goods used in the development and transport of oil and liquefied natural gas. “Investment activities” also encompass any financial institution that extends credit of $20 million or more to another person for 45 days or more if that credit will be used in Iran’s energy sector. Thus, PDVSA clearly falls in this category. However, the sanctions imposed on the oil giant prohibit the company from obtaining either a U.S. export visa or money from the U.S. Import-Export Bank, as well as banning them from attempting to obtain U.S. procurement contracts. These sanctions, however, are remarkably limited in scope. They do not affect PDVSA’s U.S. branch (CITGO), nor do they in any way affect U.S.-Venezuelan trade relations. Additionally, it was highly unlikely that Venezuela would be competing for U.S. procurement contracts, nor receiving loans from American banks. Indeed, it was estimated at a Joint House hearing on June 24^th that the U.S. still obtains 10% of its oil imports from Venezuela.

Venezuela as a country should also be made accountable on UN sanctions imposed on Iran. These sanctions approved in June of 2010 forbids Iran from acquiring interests in any commercial activity relating to uranium enrichment and other nuclear materials or technology and that all States should prevent the transfer to Iran of any weapon. Multiple reports have pointed out nuclear cooperation between Venezuela and Iran and even Venezuelan government officials have acknowledged it. Likewise, weekly flights between Iran and Venezuela have been in existence for a long time and they have been kept secret raising suspicions of military, nuclear, and asymmetric war cooperation between the two countries.

The Menges Hemispheric Security Project and others have denounced a number of times that the U.S Administration and the State Department have been downplaying the role of Venezuela as a rogue and dangerous state. ( see for example “Taking Iran’s Missiles Seriously”, “We do not Want Him” ; and “The Santos-Chavez Reconciliation: A Multiple Show of Weakness” )

It is abundantly clear that the U.S government should take firmer action, and categorize Venezuela in an official capacity with the countries with which it has aligned itself, namely those on the State Sponsors of Terrorism list. The other countries that remain on the list do so for several reasons. They offer support to terrorist groups politically, legally and financially. When we investigate the criteria on which other states have been placed on the list, we find that Venezuela is overqualified.

Venezuela’s best friend, Iran, has been on the list since 1984, when it was added for its role in the creation of Hezbollah in the midst of the Lebanese Civil war, when it sent military detachments into Lebanon to arm, fund and train the nascent militia. It remains on the list due their continued support for the Taliban; support of Iraqi insurgents fighting U.S. forces; and their funding and support of their proxy, Hezbollah. Through the Qods force, which is a special unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in charge of extraterritorial operations, Iran is able to distribute arms and training to Shia terrorist organizations. The Qods force has been reported by the Pentagon and other sources as having a presence in Venezuela. Venezuela also maintains links to Hezbollah and the Colombian Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)

Most recently, testimonies in a congressional hearing on Hezbollah in the Western Hemisphere confirmed that there has been considerable fraternization between the drug barons and terrorist cells. Hezbollah openly arms and trains FARC members in Venezuela (under the paternal supervision of Chavez’s government). From the report on Hezbollah to the Counterterrorism and Intelligence subcommittee “The organization [Hezbollah] has also been accused of training Venezuelan militants in south Lebanon for possible attacks on American soil, and of operating training camps inside Venezuela itself, with the collusion of sympathetic government officials.” Hezbollah also maintains close ties with Mexican and other drug cartels (also supported by Venezuela). This makes the U.S vulnerable to an attack from its Southern border.

Yet it is not only for their support of Hezbollah that we should add Venezuela to the State Sponsors of Terrorism List, but also for its strong contacts with the FARC. Cuba’s support of the FARC has kept Cuba on the list of state-sponsors of terrorism for years.

Venezuela’s support of the FARC has long been suspected, but was even proven by Interpol and the Colombian police after the laptop of the FARC’s second in command, Raul Reyes was seized. The transcripts found on that laptop proved beyond any reasonable doubt that Hugo Chavez’s regime supports the FARC.In 2009 a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) confirmed such connection.

If the FARC was not considered terrorist enough to warrant a place for Venezuela on the State Sponsors of Terrorism list despite ample damning evidence. Then surely, now after the last congressional hearing, the U.S Administration and the State Department must reconsider.

Not only does Venezuela deserve a place on the list, but it would be good policy for the U.S. to place the country in such list. The transcripts found on that laptop proved beyond any reasonable doubt that Hugo Chavez’s regime supports the FARC. By taking out 36% of Venezuelan exports, the Obama Administration would begin to put serious pressure on the Chavez regime and its allies to stop ties to terrorist organizations and other activities that threaten the stability of the region and U.S national security.

Elliot Friedland is an intern at the Center for Security Policy and a student of History at Oxford University in Great Britain

Source:The Americas Report