Country Reports on Terrorism 2012

ut instead choose to rejoin SL upon release.
VENEZUELA
In May, for the seventh consecutive year, the U.S. Department of State determined, pursuant to
section 40A of the Arms Export Control Act, that Venezuela was not cooperating fully with U.S.
antiterrorism efforts. The Venezuelan government took no action against senior Venezuelan
government officials who have been designated as Foreign Narcotics Kingpins by the U.S.
Department of the Treasury for directly supporting the narcotics and arms trafficking activities of
the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Venezuela and Colombia continued their dialogue on security and border issues. On several
occasions during the year, President Chávez said, in reference to the FARC and the Colombian
group the National Liberation Army (ELN), that the Venezuelan government would not permit
the presence of illegal armed groups in Venezuelan territory. Venezuela captured two FARC
members during the year; one died following his capture and the other is still in Venezuelan
custody.
Venezuela maintained its economic, financial, and diplomatic cooperation with Iran. Iranian
President Ahmadinejad visited Venezuela in January, and following his meeting with Chávez,
the leaders announced the signing of agreements in the areas of housing materials, construction,
agriculture, and shipping. In June, Chávez unveiled an unarmed, unmanned-aerial vehicle that he
claimed Venezuela had produced domestically with Iranian technology. The Banco Internacional
de Desarrollo, a subsidiary of the Banco de Desarrollo y Exportacion de Iran, continued to
operate in Venezuela despite its designation in 2008 by the U.S. Treasury Department under E.O.
13382 (“Blocking Property of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferators and their Supporters”).
There were credible reports that Hizballah engaged in fundraising and support activity in
Venezuela.
Legislation, Law Enforcement, and Border Security: Venezuela captured two FARC
members during the year; one died following his capture and the other was in Venezuelan
custody at year’s end.
Countering Terrorist Finance: Venezuela is a member of the Caribbean Financial Action Task
Force, a Financial Action Task Force-style regional body; the Inter-American Drug Abuse
Control Commission Anti-Money Laundering Group; and the Egmont Group.
Venezuela enacted an organic law against organized crime and the financing of terrorism
(Gazette No. 39.912, April 2012), as well as joint resolution 122 (Gazette No. 39.945, June
2012) and joint resolution 158 (Gazette No. 39.986, August 2012) to address deficiencies in its
anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism regime. The organic law
criminalized terrorism in a manner consistent with international norms and extended due
diligence requirements beyond banks to include securities, insurance, and other financial
institutions. The organic law also obligated financial institutions to notify Venezuela’s financial
intelligence unit of any transactions that might be related to terrorist acts, terrorist financing,
money laundering, or organized crime, even when the funds in question come from licit
sources. Joint resolution 122 and joint resolution 158 created a mechanism for implementing
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