The U.S. government's decision to sanction Venezuela's state-run oil company, PDVSA (Petroleos de Venezuela, SA), is the first formal acknowledgment by Washington of Hugo Chávez's critical support for the nuclear-terrorist regime in Iran. The significance of today's announcement reaches well beyond the several targeted measures. It represents a powerful message to the financial markets, the banking community, and legitimate businesses in the United States and elsewhere that transactions with PDVSA or the government of Venezuela are very risky business.

Starting today, the Venezuelan people will begin to see the dire consequences of Chávez's liaisons with bandit regimes, terrorists, and drug traffickers. And, as the depth and breadth of Chávez's alliance with Iran is exposed, the world will know that the regime in Caracas has become an indispensable co-conspirator with Iran's terror network and illegal nuclear program.

Since 2009, AEI's Venezuela-Iran project has revealed the extent of PDVSA's involvement in suspicious transactions, particularly the sale of gasoline to Iran in violation of the spirit and the letter of U.S. law and UN resolutions. For far too long, U.S. diplomats and others have claimed ignorance as an excuse for inaction. By today's action, that provocative policy of willful neglect may have come to an end.

AEI will continue to work with Congress, U.S. law enforcement, and other willing prosecutors to expose and confront this dangerous "caudillo-mullah" axis.

Among the other activities that must be investigated fully and sanctioned urgently are:

Iran's mining of uranium and other strategic minerals in Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, and elsewhere.

Iran's use of the Venezuelan banking system to circumvent UN sanctions and to project its network into key neighboring countries, such as Brazil.

Chávez's material support for a sprawling Hezbollah terrorist network for drug-trafficking, fund-raising, recruitment, training, and operations in the Americas.

The presence of Iranian military installations, weapons, and other equipment in Venezuelan territory.

Above all, the decision by the administration to sanction PDVSA's illicit behavior is a tribute to the tenacity of congressional leaders who have demanded action that the administration hold Chávez's lawless regime accountable. These measures demonstrate the critical role that law enforcement agencies will play in undermining this growing threat.

* Roger F. Noriega was ambassador to the Organization of American States from 2001 to 2003 and assistant secretary of State from 2003 to 2005. He is a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and managing director of Vision Americas LLC.

Source: The American