Hezbollah expands foothold on Margarita Island, U.S. officials warn

U.S. officials say Margarita Island, a Caribbean resort off Venezuela’s northeastern coast, has become Hezbollah’s most important base of operations in the Western Hemisphere, strengthened by Iran’s growing footprint and the Maduro regime’s protection. The assessment, shared by multiple U.S. officials, underscores a regional security challenge they describe as transnational and narco-terrorism driven. Secretary of State Marco Rubio portrayed the threat as the single most serious security challenge facing the United States from the Western Hemisphere, telling reporters at a year-end briefing that the groups focused on narcotrafficking pose a broad risk that extends beyond narcotics alone. "The single most serious threat to the United States from the Western Hemisphere is from transnational terrorist criminal groups primarily focused on narcotrafficking," Rubio said. In the same conversation, Melissa Ford Maldonado, director of the Western Hemisphere Initiative at the America First Policy Institute, cautioned that Margarita Island’s proximity to Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada, its location along key maritime routes, and its reputation as a drug-trafficking hub all contribute to a security calculus that draws irregular armed groups and foreign actors.

Experts describe Margarita Island as a strategic outpost that offers a gateway to the region’s narco-trafficking networks while providing cover for intelligence and paramilitary activity. Marshall Billingslea, the former assistant secretary for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes in the U.S. Treasury Department, told Fox News Digital that Margarita Island has become Hezbollah’s center of gravity in the Western Hemisphere. "From what I have seen and what I have been told, there is a wide range of activities that Hezbollah and to some extent Hamas are engaged in. Margarita Island is really the center of gravity for their activities," he said. He also noted the island’s cross-border access to Colombia as a key factor in revenue generation through smuggling and drug importation, and he described Hezbollah as having embedded itself in the island’s economy through a network of companies and training camps. Billingslea’s written testimony to the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control traces the transformation back more than two decades, describing how Venezuela under Hugo Chávez opened its doors to Hezbollah, including a training site on Margarita Island. He argued that when Nicolás Maduro seized power, Hezbollah’s footprint expanded alongside the narco-regime’s other networks, deepening ties to the Cartel de los Soles, a cadre of senior Venezuelan officials accused by the United States of drug trafficking. The testimony also highlights how the government helped embed Hezbollah by facilitating travel and naturalization for operatives from Lebanon, Syria, and Iran. Between 2010 and 2019, Venezuelan authorities issued more than 10,400 passports to individuals from those countries, according to the testimony.

The assessment of Margarita Island as a Hezbollah hub is not limited to contemporary accounts. A May 27, 2020, Justice Department announcement alleged that Diosdado Cabello, a powerful figure in Venezuela, directed lawmaker Adel El Zabayar to travel to the Middle East to obtain weapons and recruit members of Hezbollah and Hamas for training at clandestine camps inside Venezuela. The filing also describes a subsequent weapons delivery at a hangar controlled by Maduro at the country’s main international airport. The case illustrates long-running cooperation between Caracas and Tehran-backed groups and underscores the risk that illicit networks on Margarita Island connect to broader militant and criminal activity across the hemisphere.

Recent developments in the Middle East have intensified the strategic significance of Margarita Island for Iran and its allied groups. Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon has damaged the group’s leadership and financial infrastructure, compelling it to rely more heavily on overseas networks. Iran’s footprint in Venezuela, Billingslea said, extends to weapons and drones, facilitated in part by the trade of gold, a leverage that has grown more important as Tehran faces losses elsewhere. He added that Iran’s ability to supply weapons and drones from Venezuela has become a critical element of Hezbollah’s operational calculus, especially as regional pressure shifts the group’s resources toward Latin America. In assessing the distance to potential threats, Billingslea argued that Hezbollah is now operating closer to the United States and farther from Israeli lines of defense, a shift that U.S. policymakers are watching closely. He also noted that the opposition in Venezuela could have valuable intelligence about the group’s footprint, although he did not indicate that the United States government was fully leveraging that access.

Security officials say the United States has already repositioned forces in the Caribbean to address the Hezbollah threat, arguing that a direct military option should be balanced with a robust intelligence effort. "I think the United States has positioned sufficient forces in the Caribbean at this time to take care of the Hezbollah threat," Billingslea said. "But obviously, when you have a terrorist group that has merged into the local population, highly precise intelligence is needed. I believe the Venezuelan opposition possesses a great deal of that intelligence, though it is not clear to me that the United States government is making the best use of that access." In his view, ending the narco-terrorist regime in Venezuela would significantly strengthen U.S. national security.

The broader question remains how the United States will respond to a regime that has woven Hezbollah, Hamas, and Iranian influence into Venezuela’s political and economic fabric. Rubio’s warning, reinforced by Sean-level assessments from former and current U.S. officials, has focused attention on Margarita Island as a potential pain point in regional security and a possible flashpoint for U.S. policy in the Caribbean and the broader Western Hemisphere. While the U.S. has reinforced its Caribbean posture, experts caution that success will require sustained intelligence, regional cooperation, and continued attention to the links between drugs, money, and militant networks. The overarching conclusion drawn by officials and analysts is that Venezuelan narco-terrorism remains a persistent threat that demands a coordinated, evidence-based response. A continued focus on Margarita Island—along with Venezuela’s frontline role in the broader Hezbollah network—will likely shape Washington’s approach to counterterrorism and narcotics in the Americas for years to come.