US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addresses a news conference in the Press Briefing Room at the State Department in Washington, DC, Jan. 7, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Tom Brenner.t

JNS.org – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo praised three South American countries on Monday for designating Lebanon’s Hezbollah as a terrorist group, though he criticized Venezuela for giving the group a haven.

“We applaud the announcements of Colombia, Honduras and Guatemala to designate #Iran-backed #Hizballah [sic] a terrorist organization. It and other transnational terrorist groups remain active in the region. The US continues to rally international support to counter these threats,” tweeted Pompeo.

Pompeo was attending an international conference against regional terrorism in Colombia.

“Transnational terrorist groups, including #Iran-backed Hizballah, are still active in the Western Hemisphere. Today’s third Counterterrorism Ministerial is another important step in bolstering our collective efforts to fight these dangerous threats to freedom in the region,” he tweeted.

Referring to Venezuelan President Nicolas Madura, Pompeo said on Monday, “We all know that the Iranian regime’s top terrorist proxy Hezbollah has found a home in Venezuela under Maduro. This is unacceptable,” reported Reuters.

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who is recognized by the United States and other countries as the country’s legitimate president, met with Pompeo on the sidelines of the conference.

Meanwhile, Honduras formally announced on Monday that it was declaring Hezbollah a terrorist group.

Luis Suazo, the country’s deputy security minister, said, “We declare Hezbollah a terrorist organization and will include it in the registry of persons and institutions linked to acts of terrorism and its financing,” reported Reuters.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in response: “I applaud the Honduran government for its important decision to declare Hezbollah a terrorist organization and to impose sanctions against it.”