On Maduro’s ‘terror island,’ Hezbollah operatives move in as tourists drift out

FIRST ON FOX: From a distance, Margarita Island looks similar a Caribbean escape. Palm-lined beaches, duty-free shops, and edifice towns merchantability the representation of a tropical playground conscionable disconnected Venezuela’s northeastern coast. But U.S. officials accidental the Venezuelan outpost has go thing other entirely: Hezbollah’s astir important basal of operations successful the Western Hemisphere, strengthened by Iran’s increasing footprint and the Maduro regime’s protection.

That threat, U.S. officials warn, reflects a broader information situation emerging from the region. "The azygous astir superior menace to the United States from the Western Hemisphere is from transnational violent transgression groups chiefly focused connected narcotrafficking," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said astatine an end-of-year property league astatine the State Department connected Friday.

"Margarita Island mightiness beryllium of value to the U.S. due to the fact that of its determination and the information dynamics astir it," Melissa Ford Maldonado, manager of the Western Hemisphere Initiative astatine the America First Policy Institute, told Fox News Digital. "It is adjacent to Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada, successful an oil-rich portion of the Caribbean on cardinal maritime routes, and it has agelong had a estimation for being a large drug-trafficking hub, perchance due to the fact that it’s disconnected the mainland and there’s not a batch of instrumentality enforcement there."

The island’s isolation, she said, has made it charismatic to "irregular equipped groups, overseas quality actors and transgression networks that usage it arsenic a departure constituent for boats carrying illicit shipments retired of Venezuela."

CARTEL CONNECTION: HEZBOLLAH AND IRAN EXPLOIT MADURO’S VENEZUELA FOR COCAINE CASH

In this Sept. 13, 2016 photo, formation chairs beryllium stacked connected bare Playa El Agua formation connected Margarita Island, Venezuela. Flights into the land are down 50 percent. (Ariana Cubillos/AP Photo) (Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

CARTEL CONNECTION: HEZBOLLAH AND IRAN EXPLOIT MADURO’S VENEZUELA FOR COCAINE CASH

Marshall Billingslea, the erstwhile adjunct caput for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes successful the U.S. Treasury Department, said Margarita Island present serves arsenic Hezbollah’s cardinal foothold successful the Western Hemisphere.

"From what I person seen and what I person been told, determination is simply a wide scope of activities that Hezbollah and to immoderate grade Hamas are engaged in," Billingslea told Fox News Digital. "Margarita Island is truly the halfway of gravity for their activities."

Hezbollah terrorists are taking portion successful cross-border raids, portion of a large-scale subject exercise, successful Aaramta, bordering Israel, connected May 21, 2023. (Fadel Itani/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

In written grounds submitted to the Senate Caucus connected International Narcotics Control for an Oct. 21 hearing, Billingslea traced the island’s translation backmost much than 2 decades. Under Hugo Chávez, helium wrote, Venezuela "opened its doors to Hezbollah, allowing the radical to found a large footprint, including a paramilitary grooming site, connected Margarita Island."

"When Nicolás Maduro seized power," Billingslea added, "the breadth and extent of Hezbollah’s beingness successful Venezuela dramatically expanded, arsenic did their ties to the narco-terrorist authorities and the Cartel de los Soles."

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People locomotion connected main land astatine El Yaque Beach successful Margarita Island, Nueva Esparta State, Venezuela (Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images)

"The narration is precise adjacent with the Cartel de los Soles, and it has been truthful for many, galore years," Billingslea said, referring to the web of elder Venezuelan officials accused by the United States of cause trafficking.

Billingslea said Hezbollah has embedded itself into Margarita Island’s economy, exploiting the island’s duty-free presumption and cross-border entree to Colombia to make gross done smuggling and cause importation. He said the radical operates a wide scope of companies connected the land and besides maintains respective grooming camps there.

His grounds besides elaborate however Venezuela’s authorities apparatus helped embed Hezbollah wrong the country. He wrote that erstwhile elder authoritative Tareck El Aissami, portion overseeing Venezuela’s passport and naturalization agency, "was instrumental successful furnishing passports and citizenship documents to Hezbollah operatives arsenic good arsenic a ample fig of radical from Lebanon, Syria, and Iran." Between 2010 and 2019, Venezuelan authorities issued much than 10,400 passports to individuals from those countries, according to the testimony.

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Attendees instrumentality portion successful the 17th Non-Aligned Movement Summit successful Porlamar, Venezuela's Margarita Island, Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016. President Nicolas Maduro had touted the Non-Aligned Movement's 17th acme arsenic an accidental to summation planetary solidarity for his authorities arsenic the oil-dependent system reels from wide nutrient shortages and triple digit inflation. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)  (Ariana Cubillos/AP Photo)

A May 27, 2020, Justice Department announcement alleged that Diosdado Cabello directed Venezuelan lawmaker Adel El Zabayar to question to the Middle East to get weapons and enlistee members of Hezbollah and Hamas for grooming astatine clandestine camps wrong Venezuela. The filing besides describes a consequent weapons transportation astatine a hangar controlled by Maduro astatine the country’s main planetary airport.

Recent developments successful the Middle East person lone accrued Margarita Island’s importance, Billingslea said. Israel’s run against Hezbollah successful Lebanon has damaged the group’s subject enactment and fiscal infrastructure, forcing it to trust much heavy connected overseas networks.

"Israeli successes against Hezbollah successful Lebanon successful particular, including their strikes connected the fiscal infrastructure Al-Qard al-Hassan that operates successful Lebanon, are going to person 2 effects," helium said. "The archetypal is that it is making the fundraising and the gross procreation that comes retired of Latin America adjacent much important to the violent group. Secondly, we person seen indications that Hezbollah really has been relocating fighters from Lebanon, respective 100 from Lebanon to Venezuela successful particular."

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Hezbollah members salute and rise the group's yellowish flags during the ceremonial of their fallen comrades Ismail Baz and Mohamad Hussein Shohury, who were killed successful an Israeli onslaught connected their vehicles, successful Shehabiya successful southbound Lebanon connected April 17, 2024.  (AFP via Getty Images)

Asked whether that displacement moves the menace person to the United States, Billingslea said Hezbollah is present operating "close to the U.S. and further distant from the Israelis."

He said Iran’s relation successful Venezuela has deepened alongside Hezbollah’s. "There is simply a important Iranian footprint successful Venezuela related to the commercialized of weapons and drones, successful particular, for gold," helium said. After suffering losses successful the Middle East, helium added, "the Iranians find themselves adjacent much babelike connected that proviso of golden successful speech for drones and weapons."

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A multilingual roadworthy motion is pictured successful Margarita Island, Nueva Esparta State, Venezuela, connected Nov. 26, 2024. Margarita, Venezuela's main island, is simply a Caribbean paradise successful diminution aft years of devaluations, inflation, a pandemic, and the illness of nationalist services.  (Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images)

He said Washington faces a strategical choice. "I deliberation the United States has positioned capable forces successful the Caribbean astatine this clip to instrumentality attraction of the Hezbollah threat," helium said. "But obviously, erstwhile you person a violent radical that has merged into the section population, highly precise quality is needed. I judge the Venezuelan absorption possesses a large woody of that intelligence, though it is not wide to maine that the United States authorities is making the champion usage of that access."

For Billingslea, the decision is cleaner — eliminating Venezuela’s narco-terrorist authorities would importantly fortify U.S. nationalist security.