by Eldad Beck, News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff
Exclusive to Israel Hayom: Senior Venezuelan opposition member says presence of Iran, Hezbollah and other terrorist elements in the country "is very concerning. … Israel can help us establish the necessary apparatuses to contend with this problem."
Juan Guaidó gestures to supporters during a march against
the Maduro regime, in Caracas, Tuesday Photo: AP
A
senior member of Venezuela's opposition, which supports interim
President Juan Guaidó, told Israel Hayom on Tuesday that the presence of
Iran, Hezbollah and other Arab terrorist elements in the country "is
very concerning" to the democratic opposition and will pose an "immense
challenge" to the new government after the socialist regime of Nicolás
Maduro is ousted.
"We are presently formulating policy
pertaining to defending Venezuela's internal security and are looking
for help and advice," the senior official said. "And Israel can help us
establish the necessary apparatuses to contend with this problem when
the political change in Venezuela realized."
Venezuela's socialist regime has close
relations with Iran and has allowed Hezbollah to establish operational
hubs in the country. Additionally, the Maduro regime maintains close
ties with Hamas and the Palestinian Authority and sends them money –
even as the people of Venezuela are themselves desperate for
humanitarian aid due to an increasing scarcity of food and medicine.
Extremist elements in the Arab and Muslim
worlds – Iran, the Palestinian Authority and Turkey – have declared
their support for the tyrant Maduro in his current standoff with the
popular uprising against his rule. Israel, meanwhile, is the only
country outside of America to stand by Guaidó, whose exclusive interview
with Israel Hayom on Tuesday reverberated across the globe.
In an effort to amplify economic pressure
on the Maduro regime, the senior Venezuelan opposition figure called on
the American administration to pressure U.S. allies in the Arab world to
end their financial support for the regime and sever commercial ties
with it.
The request comes amid reports that several
Gulf states recently purchased large quantities of gold from the Maduro
regime. In the meantime, Miguel Pizarro, Guaidó's adviser on
humanitarian affairs, confirmed in a conversation with Israel Hayom that
the opposition is already in contact with Israel over humanitarian aid.
"We know that Israel is interested in contributing in this regard, along with other nations," Pizarro said.
"We prepared a strategic plan for urgent
aid to our neediest populations and we need a lot of medicine, hospital
medical equipment and help treating people [suffering from] extreme
malnutrition," Pizarro told Israel Hayom. "We are establishing
warehouses along the border to receive aid; we have already built a
collection center in Columbia and we are preparing to open another
center in Brazil and in other countries."
Pizarro added: "We welcome all help we are
given, as the Venezuelan population needs any help possible. The regime
will have to allow this aid to enter [the country], because it's a
matter of [saving] people's lives. We are applying all possible pressure
to force the regime to allow this aid into the country."
Air defenses on the border
Meanwhile, Maduro appears to be
increasingly afraid of foreign military intervention and has deployed
air defense systems at San Cristóbal – near the border with Columbia.
The development follows his decision to refuse foreign humanitarian aid.
Now, online video footage published by the opposition shows S-125 air
defense batteries near the frontier.
The S-125, a particularly outdated
Soviet-era system, was used by the Egyptian army during the War of
Attrition against Israel (between 1967 and 1970) and the Yom Kippur War.
The system would pose no problem for any advanced air force.
In an interview with the BBC on Tuesday,
Maduro accused the Trump administration of "warmongering in order to
take over Venezuela.
Maduro added his hope that "this extremist group in the White House is defeated by powerful worldwide public opinion."
Speaking in the capital, Caracas, he told
the BBC: "It's a political war, of the United States empire, of the
interests of the extreme right that today is governing, of the Ku Klux
Klan, that rules the White House, to take over Venezuela."
Also on Tuesday, Guaidó supporters returned
to the streets nationwide to keep the heat on Maduro and demand that he
allow humanitarian aid into the country.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a telephone call on Tuesday
evening that Washington should avoid any interference, including
military, in Venezuela's internal affairs.
Moscow has invested billions of dollars into Venezuela's economy and oil production.
Eldad Beck, News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/2019/02/13/exclusive-venezuelas-guaido-hopes-israel-will-help-kick-hezbollah-out/
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