Nicolás Maduro’s capture by the United States in January 2026 created a strategic opening in the Western Hemisphere. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez has moved pragmatically. Washington eased sanctions. The removal of Iranian personnel emerged as an operational priority. This realignment offers the United States and its allies the strongest opportunity in two decades to dismantle Iran’s most valuable partner in Latin America.
For 20 years, Venezuela functioned as Tehran’s forward operating base in the region. Iranian technicians and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps specialists embedded themselves in oil infrastructure, shipping operations, and drone assembly sites. The 2022 cooperation agreement enabled diluent swaps and gasoline supplies that sustained Venezuelan exports amid sanctions. In 2025, Venezuela exported between 750,000 and 966,000 barrels per day, generating roughly $18 billion in revenue. Substantial volumes moved through Iranian-linked barter systems and shadow fleet arrangements.
For 20 years, Venezuela functioned as Tehran’s forward operating base in the region.
Hezbollah networks exploited the same infrastructure. U.S. Treasury Department records and congressional testimony document Lebanese clans in Venezuela channeling tens of millions of dollars annually via gold smuggling, narcotics trafficking, and passport schemes. Broader estimates place Hezbollah’s annual revenue from Latin America in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Venezuelan authorities issued more than 10,000 passports to individuals from Lebanon, Syria, and Iran. The network spanned the Caribbean to the tri-border area of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Tehran constructed a sanctions-evasion laboratory and a potential platform for contingency operations that diverted American resources from the Middle East.
Two additional developments underscore the network’s depth and the urgency of the moment. Iranian flights smuggled dozens of kilograms of Venezuelan gold directly to finance Hezbollah operations. In addition, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps used its Venezuelan foothold and Caracas embassy to orchestrate terrorist plots, including a foiled scheme targeting Israel’s ambassador to Mexico.
However, Rodríguez’s government has begun unwinding this scheme. In February 2026, the first Venezuelan crude shipment in years—approximately 200,000 barrels—arrived at Israel’s Bazan refinery in Haifa. Oil production has climbed toward 1.1 million barrels per day as private investment returns and legal reforms take hold, with recent figures showing further gains to 1.23 million barrels per day. Washington responded with targeted sanctions relief and reopened diplomatic channels.
The expulsion of remaining Iranian advisory and technical teams has become a central condition that Rodríguez is addressing. Venezuela’s transfer of its enriched uranium to the United States has sealed Rodríguez’s strategic realignment, stripping Iran of any lingering dual-use foothold while delivering Washington a concrete non-proliferation victory.
Caracas holds proven reserves exceeding 300 billion barrels. Prolonged isolation promised economic collapse. Rodríguez concluded that survival required trading outdated alliances for market access and international legitimacy.
The geostrategic value lies in leveraging her government to excise Iranian influence internally. Complete removal of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel, verified shutdown of dual-use facilities, and independent audits of illicit financial flows could accomplish in months what two decades of sanctions did not.
This pivot delivers payoffs across multiple theaters. Iran loses its premier platform outside the Middle East precisely as its regional proxies face intense pressure. Hezbollah financing channels in the hemisphere face disruption. Global energy markets gain additional heavy crude supplies while roughly one-fifth of world oil transits the Strait of Hormuz daily.
Under President Donald Trump’s revision of the Monroe doctrine, this move strengthens Western security by neutralizing adversaries in the hemisphere.
For the Jewish state, the realignment secures an energy partner in the Americas. It cuts off a Western Hemisphere hub for terror financing and operational planning against Israeli targets, ending 17 years of rupture since Hugo Chávez severed ties in 2009, despite Israel’s 2019 recognition of interim opposition leader Juan Guaidó.
Under President Donald Trump’s revision of the Monroe doctrine, this move strengthens Western security by neutralizing adversaries in the hemisphere, disrupting drug and terror pipelines, and diversifying energy away from vulnerable chokepoints.
Rodríguez’s Chavista roots and inherited power structures demand caution. Her 2026 Passover greetings to Venezuela’s Jewish community contrast with prior accusations of genocide against Israel. Results, however, outweigh biographies. Statecraft rewards exploitation of power shifts, as seen in Anwar Sadat’s Egypt and Deng Xiaoping’s China.
Washington should capitalize. It should complete expulsion of Iranian teams, demand third-party verification of facility closures, and integrate Venezuelan oil into transparent markets. Caution should predominate. Washington should maintain sanctions snapback mechanisms for noncompliance. Beijing and Moscow will encourage hedging. Only speed and verifiable compliance will prevent reestablishment of cutouts.
In an era of multi-theater competition, realignments achieved through incentives rather than prolonged conflict yield the highest returns. Rodríguez’s pivot represents such an opportunity. The United States and its partners must lock Venezuela in before the window narrows.
