WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno criticized leaders in both his native Colombia and neighboring Venezuela during a Senate hearing on Hezbollah’s drug trafficking operations in Latin America, boldly predicting that Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro will be removed from power within months.

“I would be surprised if he’s still in Venezuela by the end of this year,” the Westlake Republican said during the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control hearing this week, adding that freeing Venezuela from Maduro’s rule “will be one of President Trump’s many, many legacies.”

The hearing came amid an escalating confrontation between the Trump administration and South American countries over U.S. military strikes on alleged drug-trafficking vessels. In what is the eighth known U.S. attack

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