TERRORISM FINANCE: NOTIFICATION OF U.S. DOMESTIC

C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 000870 HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD DEPT PASS TO AID/OTI RPORTER EEB/ESC/TFS JJALLORINA WHA/AND LCUE E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/19/2033 TAGS: KTFN PTER PINR EFIN PREL VE LE SUBJECT: TERRORISM FINANCE: NOTIFICATION OF U.S. DOMESTIC DESIGNATION OF VENEZUELA-BASED HIZBALLAH INDIVIDUALS REF: STATE 60042 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Robert Richard Downes For Reason 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) As requested, Charge d'Affaires (CDA) delivered information in paragraphs four and six of reftel and copies of the Treasury Department Press notice to representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). ¶2. (C) MFA officials declined to schedule a meeting for June ¶18. Instead CDA provided the designation information in paragraph four to the Director for North American Affairs and Multilateral Affairs Yaneth Arocha via telephone on June 18. Arocha was at the time in New York with Vice Foreign Minister and Venezuelan Ambassador to the United Nations Jorge Valero. ¶3. (C) On June 19 CDA met with the MFA North American desk's de facto Deputy Marie Borregales and delivered orally the points in paragraph six of reftel as well as copies of the Treasury Department press release. Borregales said that Arocha had informed her on June 18 of CDA's call and the designation. She confirmed that Ghazi Nasr al Din was an employee of the Ministry, but said she had not yet checked his current status. Borregales asked whether the United States was claiming Venezuelan involvement in Hizballah financing. In response CDA noted the designation spoke for itself, and was directed at two individuals and two companies. He then reminded Venezuela of its obligations under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373 to suppress and prevent the financing of terrorist acts. Borregales said the Ministry would be reviewing Ghazi Nasr al Din's activities. ¶4. (U) Separately, in a press conference on June 19 Minister for Communications and Information Andres Izarra, in reference to the Hizballah designation, said that Venezuela had not received any formal complaint by the Lebanese government regarding the issue. Izarra also said that Ghazi Nasr al Din was employed as Political Counselor at the Venezuelan Embassy in Lebanon. Downes