Kicking it with Hezbollah

By Sebastian De Luca

From: IASW

In the coming weeks, Tareck el Aissami will make his professional debut for Aragua FC, a Venezuelan soccer team located roughly sixty miles southwest of the capital city of Caracas.

At 40 years old, it is hard to believe that any individual would be making a professional sports debut; however, thus is the case of this one part Chavista, one part Hezbollah operative, and current Governor of the state of Aragua.

Tareck el Aissami was born in Venezuela to Syrian-Lebanese parents. While attending the Universidad de los Andes, Tareck studied criminology and law, graduating magna cum laude for his class.

El Aissami was very active in the school community, serving as President of the student body, a position that gave him control over the student dormitory operations. Thus begins Tareck el Aissami’s journey from star student to Hezbollah agent.

It has been reported that under Tareck’s supervision, the student dorms turned into militant safe-havens where stolen cars, drugs, and weapons were openly sold. Furthermore, the vast majority of the building’s residents had no connection to the university, and was populated by individuals with ties to the FARC, Hezbollah, and other militant groups.

In 2003, then-President Hugo Chavez saw promising potential in Tareck el Aissami and classmate Hugo Cabezas, appointing them deputy director and director of the Identification and Immigration Directorate (ONIDEX). This nomination placed Tareck in charge of the border controls and passports division. During this time period, multiple media outlets have accused Tareck el Aissami of issuing passports to Iranians, Hezbollah operatives, and other foreign nationals. It is reported that Mohsen Rabbani, the mastermind for the 1994 AMIA bombing in Argentina, traveled to Brazil using false Venezuelan documents issued during Tareck el Aissami’s tenure in charge of the ONIDEX.

After six years at the helm of ONIDEX, el Aissami was promoted to Minister of Interior and Justice. During these three years Tareck signed into law the creation of the Policia Nacional Bolivariana, Venezuela’s first “non repressive” police force. In reality this police force has since been used to oppress democratic activists, a strategy initially implemented by the Cuban intelligence service, while allowing for narco-trafficking and militia movements to increase.

In 2012, following the desertion of the state of Aragua’s governor, Tareck el Aissami ran in, and won, the election with Hugo Chavez’ support. The ex-governor Rafael Isea has since turned himself over to the DEA and is currently working as an informant exposing the Venezuelan regime’s involvement in drug activity.

The alarming fact is that the entire el Aissami family has had some sort of suspicious involvement in Venezuelan affairs.

Zaidan Amin El Aissam El Musfi, also known as Carlos el Aissami, is Tareck’s father. He is a Saddam Hussein loyalist and served as the president of the Iraqi Baath Party in Venezuela. In this role he assisted in organizing and executing protests for various militant socialist organizations. In 1992, Carlos was arrested along with other militants during Hugo Chavez’ first attempted coup d’état.

Tareck’s siblings have also been investigated on numerous occasions for their role in supporting terror networks. Haifa el Aissami, was appointed the ambassador to the Netherlands in 2010, even though her only qualifications stem from her experience working in the public ministry, where she worked on public policy. Another of Tareck’s sisters, Amin Obayda el Aissami, is an executive of the Venezuelan oil company Intevep. Finally, Tareck’s younger brother Feras el Aissami, a Venezuelan businessman, has been under investigation for withdrawing an estimated 20 million dollars from his Swiss bank account.

The entire family has either been accused of being supporters of terrorist networks in Latin America or has verbally professed their loyalty.

The question that arises now is what is the political play.

Is this a simple case of nepotism in the Chavista era, or could there be a more nefarious motive at hand? Nicolas Maduro’s popularity has been on the decline over the past few months; and should the trend continue Tareck el Aissami fits the mold for a possible replacement in the future. In the case that this scenario takes place, the United States will have to move quickly to root out further Iranian influence in our hemisphere