End Iran’s dangerous influence in Latin America

OPINION:

A day after America’s Jan. 3 special operation to arrest Venezuelan narco-dictator Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Secretary of State Marco Rubio made clear that the South American country could “no longer cozy up to Hezbollah and Iran in our own hemisphere.”

Less than a week later, a U.S. delegation traveled to La Paz, Bolivia, to press its new government to expel suspected Iranians and designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps a terrorist organization.

These are not isolated diplomatic incidents. For too long, Iran has been allowed to establish a strategic footprint in Latin America that directly threatens U.S. national security. Leftist Latin American regimes were passive, if not complicit, in allowing Iran’s growing presence in the region.

Iran’s presence will diminish as President Trump’s emphasis on democracy in Latin America takes hold.

From 2005 to 2009, Iran more than doubled its diplomatic presence in Latin America. Today, Iran operates 11 embassies across the region: in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Uruguay and Venezuela. This expansion was not driven by cultural exchange or bilateral commercial relations. It was shepherded by Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez as part of a deliberate strategy to challenge U.S. influence and provide Iran with strategic depth well beyond the Middle East.

Iran has provided Venezuela with billions of dollars in investments, loans, military equipment and oil technology. Venezuela and Iran signed 25 bilateral agreements covering sectors such as petrochemicals, transport and mining.

For years, Venezuela has smuggled tons of gold to Iran on sanctioned Iranian flights as payment for economic and military assistance. Venezuela also hosts Iranian intelligence operatives and provides them with false diplomatic passports for easy in and out of the region. It also provides sanctuary and logistics support for Quds Force personnel.

It’s not alone. Bordering five South American countries, lithium-rich Bolivia is thought to have hosted more than 700 members of Iran’s Quds Force. In July 2023, Iran and Bolivia signed a military cooperation agreement that includes reconnaissance drones, riverboats, cybersecurity cooperation and joint military training. Bolivia’s defense minister was warmly welcomed in Tehran.

Bolivia also established an anti-imperialist school for armed forces staffed by military experts from Iran, Cuba and Russia.

Then there’s Cuba. Over the past decade, Iran has granted credit lines to Cuba worth billions of dollars. In 2023, Cuba signed six agreements with Iran covering telecommunications, information technology and customs cooperation. Nicaragua has also signed agreements with Iran focused on free trade and military cooperation.

Cuban and Nicaraguan leaders have visited Iran and hosted senior Iranian officials, and remain vociferous international supporters of the Islamic republic.

Iran’s diplomatic expansion has enabled its proxy, Hezbollah, to establish operational bases across Latin America. The Tri-Border Area, where Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil meet, has become Hezbollah’s primary operational hub, generating tens of millions of dollars annually through drug trafficking, money laundering, arms trafficking and contraband.

Hezbollah has also cultivated partnerships with Colombian and Mexican drug cartels, providing money laundering services, transportation, logistics support and financial expertise. The revenue generated from these operations funds Hezbollah operations globally, including attacks against U.S. and Israeli interests.

Throughout Latin America, Iran seeks political support through shared and profound anti-U.S. ideologies and fellow travelers. Iran has also established a network of cultural centers, mosques and Islamic institutions across Latin America. These institutions serve multiple purposes: recruitment of operatives, radicalization of sympathizers, intelligence gathering and operational support.

These patterns of penetration are predictable: diplomatic expansion, economic penetration, military assistance, intelligence operations, proxy networks, terrorist attacks.

For the first time in more than two decades, Venezuela, Iran’s primary base of operations, is under an interim leadership that the United States can influence. Bolivia, Iran’s secondary hub, is under new leadership seeking to repair ties with Washington.

If the U.S. doesn’t move decisively, then the next generation of Iranian-backed operations in the hemisphere will be more difficult to contain. The mullahs in Tehran are scared. When continued unrest topples the Islamist regime, a positive ripple effect will be felt across Africa and the Americas.

Mr. Trump described the meetings in Oman last week between U.S. and Iranian diplomats as “very good talks.” Containing Iran’s nuclear threat is a strategic imperative.

So is ending Tehran’s meddling in Latin America. Iran’s presence in Latin America continues to pose a direct threat to U.S. national security and undermines our national interests. Its operations can destabilize friendly governments, conduct intelligence gathering against U.S. interests and recruit operatives who can travel to and work against the U.S.

Mr. Trump and Mr. Rubio have created a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reset the world stage. Mr. Maduro is in prison, Cuba is isolated and deprived of Venezuelan oil, Sandinista Nicaragua is fearful and teetering, and Iranian mullahs are facing a popular revolt. Let’s finish the job.

• Emilio T. Gonzalez is a retired U.S. intelligence officer who has served in senior positions in the U.S. Army, on the National Security Council and in the Department of Homeland Security.