{"id":2268,"date":"2026-06-17T11:06:48","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T11:06:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2268"},"modified":"2026-06-17T11:06:48","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T11:06:48","slug":"us-must-halt-the-terror-driven-gold-rush-thats-looting-venezuela","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2268","title":{"rendered":"US must halt the terror-driven gold rush that’s looting Venezuela"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A human-rights horror is unfolding right under America\u2019s nose, with kids under age 10 laboring in mines, girls as young as 12 working in brothels and whole communities fleeing cartel violence.<\/p>\n

Read more Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann to be sentenced Wednesday, ending his 3-decade-Long Island terror<\/a><\/p>\n

Venezuela is at the evil heart of an illicit gold-mining rush that\u2019s enriching US enemies like the Tren de Aragua cartel, the terror group\u00a0Hezbollah and others.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the new El Dorado, run by cartels, enslaving children and fueling terror.<\/p>\n

Colombia and Peru are the world\u2019s largest cocaine exporters, yet cartels in both countries are now making\u00a0more money\u00a0from illicit gold than from cocaine.<\/p>\n

The toxic substances used to refine illegal gold \u2014 mercury, cyanide and arsenic \u2014 poison entire communities and fund cartel chaos at the US-Mexico border.<\/p>\n

The notoriously brutal\u00a0Jalisco Nueva Generaci\u00f3n cartel\u00a0makes millions of dollars\u00a0supplying illicit mercury\u00a0to South American gold and drug cartels.<\/p>\n

With the price of gold reaching\u00a0a record-breaking $5,400 per ounce in January, illegal gold mining is becoming more profitable.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Estimates suggest that, at 2026 gold prices, criminals and terrorists in Venezuela may be making around $10 to $12 billion a year from illicit gold mining and trading.<\/p>\n

Corrupt officials and lawless jungles have made Venezuela a hub of the illegal gold trade, with dirty gold from Colombia, Bolivia, Peru and Brazil, as well as from its own illicit mines, flowing through\u00a0to international markets.<\/p>\n

Cartel gold is reportedly even making its way into coins sold by the\u00a0US Mint.<\/p>\n

Former Venezuelan dictator Nicol\u00e1s Maduro propped up his regime by opening a wilderness area the size of Portugal to illegal gold mining, where he partnered with the cartels to control the trade in illegal gold, drugs and human trafficking.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why President Donald Trump took Maduro down \u2014 yet his successor Delcy Rodriguez is equally guilty.<\/p>\n

Maduro in 2020 used cartel gold to\u00a0purchase\u00a0goods from Iran; Rodriguez reportedly used it to bribe European officials that same year.<\/p>\n

And today, throughout the Rodriguez government, Maduro\u2019s cronies are still in power.<\/p>\n

One Venezuelan colonel linked to illegal gold operations, who also ran\u00a0Maduro\u2019s torture centers, has even been promoted: He now runs the military counterintelligence special unit.<\/p>\n

With his dirty profits, this same colonel has used US shell companies to buy businesses in Florida.<\/p>\n

If Trump\u2019s administration ignores the problems of cartel gold, it will undercut its primary goal in Caracas: pushing out the criminal organizations that send migrants, drugs and violence flooding toward the United States.<\/p>\n

Venezuelan gold has also directly supported Iran\u2019s illicit oil sales, undermining Trump\u2019s efforts in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

Read more Mamdani opens public lottery for free tickets to Knicks finals ceremony, says championship \u2018belongs to the people\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Hundreds of millions of dollars in Venezuelan gold a year heads to Turkey, enabling Russian and Iranian sanctions evasion and global money laundering.<\/p>\n

As then-Sen. Marco Rubio\u00a0said\u00a0in 2019, \u201cillegal gold mining\u2019s effects\u201d present a \u201cdirect threat to US national security and to the integrity of the US and international financial system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite those national security threats, the US Treasury Department\u00a0created a sanctions exception for\u00a0Venezuelan gold mining and gold purchases earlier this year.<\/p>\n

But with more than 90% of Venezuela\u2019s gold being mined illegally, it\u2019s difficult to ensure that US companies are not funneling cash toward terrorists and criminals.<\/p>\n

And Venezuela\u2019s government is making it harder to eliminate dirty money: In April, the legislature passed a new\u00a0law\u00a0that make gold mining operations and contracts more opaque, helping criminals dodge scrutiny.<\/p>\n

To protect American interests, the US should appoint an on-the-ground inspector general to conduct regular audits and monitor gold transactions for corruption, fraud and terror financing.<\/p>\n

Without eyes on the money, Washington will hand more power to the very cartels that Trump spent\u00a0$5 billion\u00a0in Venezuela to defeat.<\/p>\n

Removing Maduro was a chance to restore democracy \u2014 but entrenched terrorists must still be rooted out.<\/p>\n

The mining sector should be part of Venezuela\u2019s economic rebirth, but that will require a firm US approach that demands more transparency and imposes more oversight. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

The 16th-century search for El Dorado killed millions through violence, disease and exploitation.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s gold rush is following the same path \u2014 funding terrorists, poisoning communities and lining the pockets of America\u2019s enemies.<\/p>\n

Washington has a chance to help break that cycle, but only if it uses its leverage in Caracas to insist on accountability and action against terror financing.<\/p>\n

As Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said\u00a0last month, \u201cIf we are serious about \u2018no money for terror,\u2019 then there must also be \u2018no room for excuses.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Josh Birenbaum is deputy director of the Center on Economic and Financial Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where Susan Soh is a research associate.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Jalen Brunson has curious moment with cop during Knicks celebration: \u2018Don\u2019t push him\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Venezuela is at the evil heart of an illicit gold-mining rush that\u2019s enriching US enemies like the Tren de Aragua cartel, Hezbollah and others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\nUS must halt the terror-driven gold rush that's looting Venezuela - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=2268\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US must halt the terror-driven gold rush that's looting Venezuela - 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