Caracas Connection

Here's one where we would have been happy not to have the chance to say we told you so. In a January 8, 2007 editorial, "Mr. Monroe, Call Your Office," we warned of what we called an Iranian strategy "to gain anti-American allies within striking distance of our shores." We wrote, "the Venezuela-Iran connection has included trade deals, numerous photo ops, and the exchange of national decorations between the two presidents." We followed up with a January 16, 2007 editorial, "Enemy in Our Back Yard," that warned, "Until recently, Mr. Chavez and his fellow Latin American leftists were an annoyance for advocates of free trade and good governance. Now that they've allied themselves with Islamic extremists, however, they've become a great deal more dangerous." We predicted, "Although economic in nature, this entente will eventually become a military one."

Sure enough, it did. Yesterday, the U.S. Treasury Department confirmed our premonitions, outlining ties between Venezuela and the deadly anti-American Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah. "It is extremely troubling to see the Government of Venezuela employing and providing safe harbor to Hizballah facilitators and fundraisers," said the director of the federal Office of Foreign Assets Control, Adam Szubin. He froze the assets of a man who served until recently as a top Venezuelan diplomat in Damascus, saying the man, Ghazi Nasr al Din, "arranged the travel of Hizballah members to attend a training course in Iran." Another Venezuela-based man, Fawzi Kan'an, "met with senior Hizballah officials in Lebanon to discuss operational issues, including possible kidnappings and terrorist attacks" and "traveled with other Hizballah members to Iran for training." The threat from the South is gathering.