The leaders of Lebanese origin at the heart of Venezuelan politics

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was seized in Caracas during a U.S. military operation on Jan. 3 and transferred to the United States, where he was indicted by a federal court in New York on drug trafficking charges, is not the only one in the crosshairs of U.S. justice.Several other figures close to the Venezuelan government are also targeted, some of whom are of Lebanese origin.The issue lies in their role within the Bolivarian Republic's state apparatus and, for some, their documented links with Hezbollah, which is a designated terrorist organization under U.S. law. L’Orient-Le Jour takes a closer look at these Venezuelan figures of Lebanese descent.A central figure in Venezuela’s support system for Hezbollah, according to several conservative U.S. analysts, Tarek al-Aissami has held several top positions within the state...