Venezuela hit with U.S. sanctions for supporting Iran, Hezbollah

After several months of calling for U.S. government action to sanction Venezuela’s state run oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. for doing business with Iran, Chairman of the House Western Hemisphere Subcommittee Rep. Connie Mack (R-FL) applauded the U.S. State Department’s decision to finally sanction Venezuela’s state-owned oil corporation yesterday.

Congressman Mack stated: "The sanctions on PDVSA are an important step in the right direction for U.S. policy toward the region; however, we must acknowledge that PDVSA’s shipments are only one example of Hugo Chavez’s support for the terrorist supporting Iranian regime."

Reports of Iranian missile bases in Venezuela, the increasing presence of Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and yesterday’s sanctioning of Venezuelan Military Industries Company show just how dangerous the Venezuela-Iranian relationship has become.

Congressman Mack also renewed his call on former Congressman Joe Kennedy to again step aside as "pitchman" for CITGO, the American subsidiary of PDVSA, a call Mack has made repeatedly since 2007.

"With our own State Department now calling out Joe Kennedy’s bosses in Caracas for doing business with Iranian terrorists, it should be clear to Joe Kennedy and his family’s legacy of public service what the right thing is to do and resign as the pitchman for Hugo Chavez and his terrorist aiding oil company CITGO."

Mack added: "While the State Department’s actions today are welcome, the slow and inadequate response has been frustrating. The U.S. needs to move quickly to cut off Chavez’s source of revenue, and bring an end to both his influence in Latin America and his dangerous relationship with the terrorist supporting Iranian regime before it’s too late."

In a March Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, Congressman Mack presented Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with evidence proving Venezuela’s sanctionable activity under the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (CISADA), which the State Department acknowledged yesterday by sanctioning PDVSA.

PDVSA is responsible for close to a third of Venezuelan government revenues yet the Venezuelan people continue to suffer while Hugo Chavez funnels PDVSA profits tocorrupt regimes throughout Latin America.

SENATE SEEKS ADDITIONAL IRAN SANCTIONS

US Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) announced on Friday new legislation to strengthen US sanctions on Iran. The Iran, North Korea, and Syria Sanctions Consolidation Act of 2011 (S. 1048) toughens existing sanctions against Iran under current law and proactively seeks to prevent its Iranian regime from developing nuclear weapons capability. The bill also enhances sanctions on North Korea and Syria.

“The legislation closes loopholes on existing sanctions against Iran, and targets, for the first time in a decade, the nexus of proliferation between states like the Islamic Republic of Iran, Syria and North Korea,” said Senator Kyl.

“What’s more, the sanctions against human rights abusers make clear that the American people align themselves with the brutalized citizenry of the Islamic Republic of Iran, North Korea, and Syria – Americans not only demand the immediate end of support for terrorism and WMD programs, but we will also use our power to halt crimes against the oppressed people of these tyrannical regimes. Today is a bad day for people who wrongly think they can continue to do business with America’s $14 trillion economy and the economies of brutal dictatorships in Damascus, Tehran and Pyongyang,” he stated.

Jim Kouri, CPP, formerly Fifth Vice-President, is currently a Board Member of the National Association of Chiefs of Police, an editor for ConservativeBase.com, and he’s a columnist for Examiner.com. In addition, he’s a blogger for the Cheyenne, Wyoming Fox News Radio affiliate KGAB (www.kgab.com). Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

He’s former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He’s also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He’s a news writer and columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he’s syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. Kouri appears regularly as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Fox News Channel, Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, etc.

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