Venezuela’s Defense Ministry under ousted leader Nicolas Maduro in 2020 allocated funds to buy more than $400 million worth of ballistic missile systems from Iran, according to two people familiar with internal administration documents authorizing the transaction.
Allegations of discussion between Iran and Venezuela regarding ballistic missiles capable of reaching American soil. Previously widely reported during the Trump administration. Elliott Abrams, who at the time served as President Donald Trump’s special representative for Iran and Venezuela, said Venezuela backed off from those efforts under U.S. pressure and ultimately did not receive any such weapons systems from Tehran.
Yet, a memo from within the Venezuelan Defense Ministry dated January 17, 2020, described in detail to POLITICO by two people, shows that negotiations over the transfer of such missiles from Iran to Venezuela – which many administrations have seen as a potential national security threat – were more extensive and went further than previously reported.
The memo – which outlined how the transaction would work and was approved by the country’s then-defense minister – provided concrete evidence that Venezuela had taken steps to acquire a ballistic missile system. It described how the Venezuelan government planned to raise funds through state-owned companies to make the purchase a reality. It also stated that the system would be operated from the platforms of Venezuelan naval ships.
Both men were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive Venezuelan government information.
It is unclear whether Caracas would pursue the purchase, given the high risk of US protests and the difficulty of raising funds in Venezuela’s battered economy.
Abrams said the Trump administration was “aware” at the time of talks taking place between Caracas and Tehran about acquiring ballistic missile systems. But the United States “said it was not acceptable,” he said, and Venezuela’s efforts eventually stopped. Abrams said he was not aware of the document detailing the purchase plan.
The White House and State Department declined to comment on whether the administration was previously aware of the January 2020 document under the Trump administration.
In August 2020, seven months after the date on the memo, Maduro said in a television broadcast The idea of ​​purchasing missiles from Iran “did not occur to us” but it was “a good idea”.
Venezuela has maintained warm relations with Iran for decades, given the two countries’ cooperation through the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. But relations between the two countries emerged as a cause for concern in the past two decades after Venezuela’s late leftist populist leader Hugo Chavez moved to strengthen ties with US adversaries. Under Chávez and his successor Maduro, The countries signed dozens of cooperation agreements and defended each other against US criticism and sanctions.
There is no indication that the Trump administration was considering Iran’s influence in Venezuela when it captured and removed Maduro in January, but U.S. officials have since invoked Venezuela-Iran relations as their justification for why the president ordered military action to remove him from power. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in january Maduro’s capture would mean Venezuela would no longer be able to “coordinate with Hezbollah and Iran in our own hemisphere,” and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum argued in March that Venezuela poses a direct threat to the US because of its military ties to Iran.
Iran has already provided weapons to Venezuela. Which also includes drone system.
The Venezuelan government, through its missions to the United Nations in New York and Geneva, did not respond to requests for comment. Its embassy in Washington and the Foreign Ministry could not be reached directly for comment.
The extent to which Iran’s influence in Venezuela poses a threat to the United States is far from a point of consensus. Some analysts argue that while ties clearly exist between Hezbollah and Iran-backed proxies, including Venezuela, claims of deep military ties between the two countries may be exaggerated and that Venezuela still understood it could not cross certain boundaries in the eyes of the United States.
“The idea that Venezuela is a forward operating base for Iranian attacks in the Western Hemisphere is more prevalent than it should be,” said Geoff Ramsey, a Venezuela analyst and fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington. “This does not mean that Venezuela and Iran are not cooperating. They are. But even Maduro understood that cozying up to Iran was the quickest way forward.”
There were also doubts that Venezuela even had the funds to carry out a military acquisition, as the petrostate’s economy was being hit by toll sanctions at the time. Caracas, shut out of the global oil market, was running out of money to provide basic products to its people, creating a major humanitarian crisis.
State Department spokesperson gave the green signal to Rubio January Comments to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee In which he said that Venezuela was “for Iran, their primary place of operation in the Western Hemisphere.”
Since Maduro’s removal, the US has exerted a certain amount of control over the Venezuelan government through acting President Delsey RodrÃguez, potentially reducing existing relations with Iran.
The 2020 Venezuelan government memorandum was submitted to Vladimir Padrino López, the country’s defense minister at the time, who approved the measure. RodrÃguez dismissed Padrino López from the government on March 18. Padrino Lopez could not be reached for comment.
And since Iran is waging a war with the US and Israel, it is unlikely that Tehran would have the weapons to supply if the possibility arose again.
But some analysts argue that there are continuing risks to relations between Venezuelan officials and the Iranian regime.
Carrie Filippetti, who previously served as Deputy Special Representative for Venezuela at the State Department in the Trump administration, does not agree that RodrÃguez staying in power is a sure way to address relations with Iran and other national security concerns for the US, as he is just “Maduro in a costume” and there is evidence that he “warmly embraced the ambassadors of China, Venezuela, China, Russia, and Iran.”
Abrams said there are questions about whether Cubans and Iranians who were in Venezuela before Maduro’s capture have gone home, and whether the intelligence presence has been “reduced” or “eliminated.”
As far as the possibility of continued military threats from Venezuela, the White House pointed to a statement made by Trump on Truth Social, saying, “Delsie Rodriguez is doing a great job, and working very well with the U.S. representatives. The oil is starting to flow, and it’s great to see the professionalism and dedication between the two countries!”
