Supporters of Hezbollah attend a protest organized by them against what they said was a violation of national sovereignty, near Beirut international airport, Lebanon, Feb. 15, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Emilie Madi

As Iran grapples with mounting international sanctions, US lawmakers have warned that Lebanese Hezbollah, the Iranian regime’s chief proxy force in the Middle East, is turning more to its overseas financial networks to finance illicit operations, while expanding its footprint across Latin America, particularly in Venezuela.

At a Senate Caucus on International Counternarcotics Control hearing on Tuesday, both Republican and Democratic senators discussed how Hezbollah has firmly entrenched itself in Latin America’s criminal networks under the protection of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who provides “a safe haven” for the Iran-backed terrorist group.

According to multiple expert witnesses, under the protection of Maduro’s regime, illicit activities including narcotics trafficking, money laundering, and passports-for-terrorist schemes have thrived, making Venezuela the “most important facilitator for Hezbollah in Latin America.”

“Venezuela is a willing safe haven for what remains the most lethal, dangerous foreign terrorist organization to the United States,” Marshall Billingslea, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, a Washington, DC-based think tank, said during the hearing.

In the past, Hezbollah’s operations in South America were largely concentrated in Colombia and the Tri-Border Area — where Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil intersect and illicit activity has long thrived — an especially notable hotspot for organized crime across the region.

However, under Maduro’s leadership and amid growing ties with Iran, Venezuela has become an increasingly significant financial hub for Hezbollah operatives.

Among other activities, the US claims that the terrorist group funds its operations through a wide range of illicit schemes, including money laundering, drug trafficking — including so-called “black cocaine” — smuggling charcoal and oil, illegal diamond trading, document forgery, counterfeiting US dollars, and trafficking large amounts of cash, cigarettes, and luxury goods.

During Tuesday’s hearing, US senators warned that Hezbollah’s expanding footprint in Latin America has now become a hemispheric threat, requiring a coordinated US response.

Both Republicans and Democrats urged more Latin American nations — particularly Brazil and Mexico — to follow the lead of Argentina, Colombia, and Paraguay in designating Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, arguing that doing so would help disrupt its financial networks and curb Iran’s influence in the region.

The US officially designated Hezbollah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) in 1997 and later as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) group in 2001, while Iran was classified as a State Sponsor of Terrorism in 1984.

During the hearing, several senators also called for a tougher government response to Venezuela’s cooperation with Iran, warning that their expanding partnership poses an increasing threat.

Iran is the chief international backer of Hezbollah, as well as the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas and Yemen’s Houthi rebels, providing these Islamist groups with weapons, funding, and training.

Hezbollah has long been “one of Iran’s tools to destabilize and terrorize,” operating extensively across the globe, said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, the top Democrat on the Senate International Narcotics Control Caucus.

However, as economic sanctions strain Iran and disrupt Hezbollah’s financial channels in the Middle East, the group is turning more heavily to Latin American criminal networks and illicit activities to sustain itself.

“Hezbollah has a long history of turning to its diaspora networks when it’s facing financial stress,” said Matthew Levitt of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “If you need big money real fast, you turn to illicit activities and especially to narcotics trafficking.”

Levitt noted that Iran “is having a much harder time getting that money to Hezbollah in a timely manner,” explaining that the Lebanese Islamist group has been operating in Latin America for nearly 50 years.

Senators expressed alarm over the proximity of the threat to the US homeland.

“This is not just about the Middle East anymore,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said during the hearing. “It’s about a terrorist organization embedding itself in the Western Hemisphere under the protection of a hostile regime.”

As part of a campaign targeting drug trafficking and “narco-terrorist” networks near Venezuela, Washington has significantly ramped up pressure on Maduro’s regime, deploying bombers, warships, and Marines across the Caribbean.

In recent weeks, US President Donald Trump has ordered at least seven strikes on boats believed to be carrying narcotics and has built up thousands of troops in the region.

Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the creation of a new counter-narcotics Joint Task Force, saying it was established “to crush the cartels, stop the poison, and keep America safe.”