Venezuela’s Toxic Relations with Iran and Hezbollah: an avenue of violence, crime, corruption and terrorism .

Abstract

Venezuela’s relations with Iran date back into the sixties when both were founding members of the OPEC. Iran’s influence in Latin America has become quite large since the Iranian revolution. Iran sees Latin America as a strategic priority for its global positioning. The Lebanese immigration towards South America has begun a while ago. But there’s a period, during the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990) when a large number of Lebanese immigrants came to the continent. Back then, according to some experts, Hezbollah and Iran took advantage of this mass migration and infiltrated their agents and recruiters among the Muslim migrants. Hezbollah is probably the most organized terrorist organization in the World in respect to its illegal financing activities. The group funds its regular operations through all sorts of crimes. Hezbollah has a tight relationship with Iran. Ever since Iran has established its covert operations in Venezuela, Hezbollah has come along, as its proxy. Venezuela is submerged in crime and corruption. The Venezuelan government has been infiltrated by transnational organized crime for more than a decade. The convergence of corruption, crime, violence and terrorism in Venezuela was enabled by a set of conditions and circumstances that basically surfaced after Chávez was elected president in 1998. From that time onwards, Venezuela became a crucial source of political, financial and logistical support for Hezbollah. Their relationship impacts the neighboring countries, particularly Brazil.