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Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), John Cornyn (R-TX), and Cory Gardner (R-CO) this week urged Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to designate Venezuela’s Maduro regime as a State Sponsor of Terrorism. In the letter, the senators highlighted the regime’s links to U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations, including the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the National Liberation Army (ELN), Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) as well as to Hizballah supporters.

The full text of the letter is below.

Dear Secretary Pompeo:

We respectfully write to request your support for designating the Maduro regime in Venezuela as a State Sponsor of Terrorism.

In its most recent Country Reports on Terrorism, the State Department noted its 11th-annual consecutive determination that “Venezuela was not cooperating fully with U.S. counterterrorism efforts,” and cited credible reports that Maduro’s illegitimate dictatorship “allowed for support of activities that benefited known terrorist groups.” The State Department’s report elaborated on the nexus among Venezuela and various U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs): “Individuals linked to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the National Liberation Army, and Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) were present in Venezuela, as well as Hizballah supporters and sympathizers.”

Moreover, the Treasury Department found, under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, that the Maduro regime in Venezuela has taken no action against senior Venezuelan government officials who are under U.S. sanctions for assisting the narcotics-trafficking activities of the FARC terrorist group, which for more than fifty years has waged a guerilla war against the Colombian people and fueled its terrorist activities by trafficking weapons and drugs.

It comes as no surprise that the Maduro dictatorship aided and abetted terrorists. After years of cooperating with FARC, ELN, and other narcotrafficking terrorists, Venezuela has now become a “narco-state.” In fact, Tareck al-Aissami, who served as Venezuela’s vice president until June 14, 2018, has been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department as a “Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker,” and two of Maduro’s nephews are currently serving 18 years in a U.S. prison for conspiring to import cocaine into the United States.

The crisis in Venezuela is dire and worsening every day. The United States must use all available tools to protect the American homeland and our people from the Venezuelan dictatorship’s egregious support for terrorism and narcotrafficking in Venezuela. We strongly believe that the Maduro regime in Venezuela meets the criteria necessary to designate the current Venezuelan government as a State Sponsor of Terrorism.

Sincerely,

RUBIO Y COLEGAS ENVÍAN CARTA AL SECRETARIO DE ESTADO POMPEO DONDE INSTAN LA DESIGNACIÓN DEL RÉGIMEN DE MADURO COMO UN PATROCINADOR DEL TERRORISMO 

Washington, DC – Los Senadores estadounidenses Marco Rubio (R-FL), John Cornyn (R-TX) y Cory Gardner (R-CO) instaron esta semana al Secretario de Estado Mike Pompeo a designar al régimen de Nicolás Maduro de Venezuela como un patrocinador del terrorismo. En la misiva, los senadores destacaron los vínculos del régimen con múltiples organizaciones terroristas extranjeras designadas por los Estados Unidos, incluyendo las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), el Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), el País Vasco y Libertad (ETA) y a partidarios de Hezbolá.

El texto completo de la carta en ingles está aquí.