Venezuela in Crisis: Iran’s Poisonous Role

Nicolás Maduro’s regime in Venezuela is fortified by Russian mercenaries, Cuban paramilitary elements, Hezbollah, and Iranian Basij and Quds Force operatives. Even if the Venezuelan military defects to support interim President Juan Guaidó, they would still have to face up to the foreign irregular forces supporting Maduro. What is behind Iranian and Hezbollah penetration into Venezuela and other parts of South America?

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Joseph M. Humire is executive director of the Center for a Secure Free Society (SFS), a national security think tank based in Washington, D.C. He provides regular briefings and testimony to the U.S. Congress, Department of Defense, and intelligence community on Islamic terrorism, transnational organized crime, and emerging threats in Latin America. He is the author of Iran’s Strategic Penetration of Latin America (2014) and a regular national security commentator for major Spanish-language media, including Univision, Telemundo, and CNN Espanol. Humire was previously the director of institute relations at the Atlas Economic Research Foundation. He is a combat veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps with deployments to the Middle East and has a degree in Economics and Global Affairs from George Mason University.
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