Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) National President Morton A. Klein released the following statement:
Thank you, Pres. Trump, Sec’y Rubio & Hegseth & General Caine, etc.: The ZOA strongly praises President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, General Dan Caine, and the elite U.S. troops and agencies who executed the brilliant, remarkable, bloodless capture and arrest of the dangerous, corrupt, brutal Venezuelan communist dictator, narco-terrorist, weapons runner, partner of multiple foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs), and Islamic Iranian/Hezbollah “axis of resistance” partner and Israel-hater Nicolás Maduro.
Maduro and his communist predecessor also destroyed Venezuela’s previously flourishing and robust economy with their communist, socialist policies. Maduro and Chávez made life miserable for Venezuelans, impoverishing them and causing eight million people to leave Venezuela. ZOA National President Morton Klein stated: “I visited Caracas, Venezuela in 1988 and 1989, before the Communists took over. Venezuelans whom I spoke with lauded their strong economy and high quality of life. They also made it clear that there was virtually no antisemitism there, and even proclaimed that Venezuela was a better country to live in than America, for Jews and others.” However, Jew-hatred and Israel-bashing became rampant under Chávez and Maduro, making Jewish life precarious. Maduro also allegedly ordered assassinations of numerous opponents and rigged elections that he clearly lost.
The remarkable U.S. operation also sends a vital message to other terror leaders, such as Ayatollah Khamenei and Cuba’s dictator, that U.S. forces have the ability to end their reigns of terror. (Khamenei reportedly now has contingency plans to flee to Russia with twenty family members and associates and his vast assets.)
We also very much appreciate Pres. Trump’s proposals regarding redeveloping Venezuela’s previously robust oil industry, particularly in light of Venezuela’s oil trafficking with the Iranian terror regime, and the ability of U.S. involvement to reduce the amount and value of Iran’s oil exports.
Moreover, ZOA very strongly thanks Secretary Rubio for announcing yesterday: “We are not going to have a country like Venezuela in our own hemisphere, in the sphere of control and the crossroads for Hezbollah, for Iran and for every other malign influence in the world. That’s just not gonna exist. . . . No more Iran/Hezbollah presence there.”
Venezuela is a “key operational hub” for Hezbollah and Iran. Venezuela, right in our backyard, is a key hub for Hezbollah’s drug trafficking, money laundering, and illicit smuggling; propagating radical Islam; establishing Islamic terror cells throughout Latin America; radicalizing Venezuela’s large expat Lebanese community; facilitating Iranian and Hezbollah operatives’ travel and shipment of illegal items via access to Venezuela’s state-owned airline CONVIASA and Venezuelan officials’ issuance of Venezuelan passports to Hezbollah operatives; Hezbollah’s and Iran’s illegal gold-mining operations used to fund both entities; and Iranian shipments of oil (to circumvent sanctions on Iran) in return for Venezuelan gold reserves. (See “Hezbollah’s Networks in Latin America,” by Marzia Giambertoni, RAND, March 2025, and numerous sources therein.) Venezuela also hosts terrorist training camps for Hezbollah, and Iran has sold drones to Venezuela.
In addition, in 2022, during one of Maduro’s multiple visits with the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, Maduro spoke about his admiration for Khamenei, and told Iran’s Press TV: “We are all part of the Axis of Resistance.” Maduro also declared: “Since [Maduro’s predecessor] Commander Hugo Chávez’s first visit in 2001, Islamic Republic of Iran and Venezuela have established exemplary political, diplomatic, moral, and spiritual ties. During this current trip, I’ve witnessed how there is an exemplary relationship between us in terms of our increasing cooperation. We’ve had many successes. So Imam Khamenei is right when he states that the relationship between the two countries is quite unique and extraordinary.” Maduro also said that deceased (IRGC Quds Force terror chief) Qassem Soleimani was “amazing,” had “immediately suggested we get help from Iranian experts” and had sent Iranian experts to Venezuela two or three days later. (See “Maduro: We are all part of the Axis of Resistance,” Press TV Iran, June 21, 2022.)
The “increasing cooperation” that Maduro referenced was Maduro’s and Khamenei’s entry into a formal 20-year cooperation agreement between Iran and Venezuela during Maduro’s 2022 visit. (“Hezbollah’s Networks in Latin America,” supra.) Shortly afterwards, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a seizure warrant for an airplane transferred by an affiliate of the U.S.-designated FTO, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF), to a Venezuelan cargo airline, in violation of U.S. export control laws.
The Department of Justice’s superseding indictment unsealed on January 3 charges Maduro with conspiring with violent narco-terrorists from FTOs including Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (“FARC”), Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional (“ELN”), the Sinaloa Cartel, the Zetas, and Tren de Aragua (“TdA”) to import huge quantities of illegal cocaine into the U.S. and to commit weapons (including machine gun) offenses, including abusively providing diplomatic passports and shipments to narco-terrorists.
Specific examples detailed in the superseding indictment also include that the Venezuelan regime “worked with one of the largest drug traffickers in Venezuela, Walid Makled. Members of the Venezuelan regime helped protect Makled’s cocaine shipments . . .”
Incidentally, a detailed Politico exposé that detailed how the Obama administration thwarted law enforcement actions against Hezbollah, noted regarding Walid Makled:
“When the Obama administration had opportunities to secure the extradition of two of the biggest players in that conspiracy, it failed to press hard enough to get them extradited to the United States, where they would face charges, [U.S. Operation Cassandra] task force officials told POLITICO.
“One was Syrian-born Venezuelan businessman Walid Makled, alias the “king of kingpins,” who was arrested in Colombia in 2010 on charges of shipping 10 tons of cocaine a month to the United States. While in custody, Makled claimed to have 40 Venezuelan generals on his payroll and evidence implicating dozens of top Venezuelan officials in drug trafficking and other crimes. He pleaded to be sent to New York as a protected, cooperating witness, but Colombia — a staunch U.S. ally — extradited him to Venezuela instead.
“The other, retired Venezuelan general and former chief of intelligence Hugo Carvajal, was arrested in Aruba on U.S. drug charges. Carvajal “was the main man between Venezuela and Iran, the Quds force, Hezbollah and the cocaine trafficking,” [U.S. task force supervisory agent Jack] Kelly said. “If we had gotten our hands on either of them, we could have taken down the entire [Hezbollah] network.”
“Instead, Venezuela was now the primary pipeline for U.S.-bound cocaine . . . It had also become a strategically invaluable staging area for Hezbollah and Iran in the United States’ backyard, including camps they established to train Shiite militia.”
(“The Secret Backstory of How Obama Let Hezbollah Off the Hook: An ambitious U.S. task force targeting Hezbollah’s billion-dollar criminal enterprise ran headlong into the White House’s desire for a nuclear deal with Iran.” by Josh Meyer, Politico, 2017.)
NYC Muslim communist Mayor Mamdani’s despicable reaction: NYC Muslim communist Mayor Mamdani’s opposition to and criticism of Maduro’s arrest and defense of communist, Israel-hater Maduro is particularly despicable, because details in the superseding indictment against Maduro and his co-conspirators reveal that New York has been a major destination of Maduro’s and his conspirators’ illegal cocaine operations. For instance, “the drug trafficking partners [spoke] about, among other things, shipping low-quality cocaine to New York because it could not be sold in Miami.” Mamdani’s opposition to Maduro’s arrest indicates that Mamdani has no concern for the safety and well-being of New York’s victims of Maduro’s drug trafficking and narco-terrorism.
Venezuela’s Future Leadership: ZOA is, however, concerned about President Trump’s statement that a leader of Venezuela’s opposition and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize recipient María Corina Machado is “weak” and “doesn’t have the support and respect” within Venezuela to lead Venezuela; and reliance instead on Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez (for the time being, as long as she does the right thing). Rodríguez shamefully stated yesterday that the U.S. operation to arrest Maduro had, “without a doubt, a Zionist tint,” and that “the extremists who have promoted armed aggression against our country — history and justice will make them pay.”
By contrast, Machado is a strong supporter of President Trump, the U.S., and our ally Israel. Machado recently stated: “I am absolutely grateful to President Donald Trump for every gesture, every signal and every moment that he has stood with the Venezuelan people.” Edmundo González, the candidate backed by Machado, received 70% of the vote of the Venezuelan public in the 2024 Venezuelan presidential election. Machado, moreover, condemned Hezbollah’s and Iran’s penetration of Venezuela, called for restoring relations with Israel, and stated that “Venezuela will be Israel’s closest ally in Latin America.”
In sum, the capture, arrest, and expected conviction of Maduro – and plans to eliminate Hezbollah’s and Iran’s presence in Venezuela – is a vital step for making the U.S., the Western Hemisphere, and entire world safer.
Thank you, President Trump, for your extraordinary strength, courage and wisdom. Your action has not only benefited Venezuela and America, but also the entire world. You are a true visionary and ultimate peacemaker.