Brahim Ghali and Nicolas Maduro ‹ › Following the arrest of Nicolas Maduro, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that «The first steps are securing what's in the national interest of the United States and also beneficial to the people of Venezuela. No more drug trafficking. No more Iran, Hezbollah presence there. No more using the oil industry to enrich all our adversaries around the world». The remarks were shared on X by Massad Boulos, a special adviser to President Donald Trump for Arab and African affairs. Does this message have implications for the Polisario Front? According to a source close to the matter, «the separatist movement requested Iranian drones, which Venezuela manufactures under a 20-year strategic cooperation agreement signed in June 2022 during an official visit by Nicolás Maduro to Iran». The same source said that Brahim Ghali, during a trip to Caracas in March 2023, formally presented the request to Maduro, arguing that Algeria had refused to supply drones to Polisario militias. «The request was reiterated during a meeting held in March 2025 in Windhoek, between Brahim Ghali and Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil», the source added. Meanwhile, the Polisario's representative in South America, Mohamed Zrug, reportedly mobilized officials in Caracas to back the movement's request. In October 2022, four months after the Tehran–Caracas strategic agreement was concluded, Morocco's permanent representative to the United Nations, Omar Hilale, warned that Morocco would respond firmly to any delivery of Iranian drones to the Polisario. Venezuela notably manufactures the Mohajer-6, an Iranian drone model that has been used by Russian forces in the war against Ukraine since February 2022. According to the same source, the Polisario now fears that this sensitive dimension of its relationship with Nicolás Maduro could come under scrutiny, particularly as a bill introduced by Republican Congressman Joe Wilson to designate the group as a foreign terrorist organization has recently gained the backing of fellow Republican Lance Gooden.
