"Kolbe: Venezuela has been a problem both for the United States and for the Venezuelan people for over 20 years. For the Chavez years and then the Maduro years, they've driven a country that was once one of the wealthiest in the world, and certainly wealthiest in South America, with unbelievable natural resources, particularly oil, and driven it into the ground through corruption, poor leadership, poor decisions, and oppression of the people."
"Venezuela has also been a foothold for Cuba. Very important for Cuba in terms of the oil that they get there, but also as a place to plant the flag and spread Cuban revolution throughout South America. It's been a base and source of money and money laundering for Hezbollah and Iran. Russia has had a long-standing relationship with Chavez and with Maduro, supporting them with weapons, with intelligence, with the Wagner Group."
Venezuela suffered more than 20 years of destructive governance under Chávez and Maduro that transformed one of South America's wealthiest nations into a failed state. Rampant corruption, poor leadership, catastrophic decisions, and repression destroyed public institutions and the economy despite enormous oil and natural resource wealth. Approximately eight million Venezuelans fled the country seeking safety and opportunity abroad. Venezuela became a strategic foothold for Cuba, a conduit for oil and ideological influence across South America, and a base for money flows and money laundering benefiting Hezbollah and Iran. Russia maintained longstanding ties with Chávez and Maduro, providing weapons, intelligence, and mercenary support through groups like Wagner. Recent covert operations demonstrated high professionalism and close cooperation between the U.S. intelligence community and special operations forces.
Read at The Cipher Brief
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