Argentina, Paraguay, Colombia and Honduras have already made C signal, while Brazil and Guatemala have pledged to do so shortly.

• The 25th anniversary of the AMIA bombing served to trigger a cascade of pronouncements, breaking down the lack of adequate legal instruments against the group.

• Several countries have established lists of terrorist organizations, allowing for greater coordination with the United States in the fight against terrorism in the region.

• Hezbollah's involvement in illicit economies in the TBA and in drug trafficking networks explain the decision of the countries concerned in South and Central America.

▲ report to the deceased in the AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires [Nbelohklavek].

report SRA 2020 / Mauricio Cardarelli [PDF version].

MAY 2020-The 25th anniversary of the largest terrorist attack in Latin America-the attack on the Argentine Israelite Mutual association (AMIA) on July 18, 1994-served as an opportunity for several countries in the region to announce their purpose to declare the Lebanese Shiite organization Hezbollah a terrorist group . Hezbollah is blamed for the AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people, as well as the bombing of the Israeli Embassy in the Argentine capital two years earlier, which killed another 22 people.

The year 2019, then, meant an important leap in the confrontation of Hezbollah in the Western Hemisphere, since previously no Latin American nation had declared as terrorist that organization, which is indeed designated as such by the United States, the European Union and other countries. In fact, the Latin American codes of law, beyond the guerrilla phenomenon itself, have hardly taken into account the external terrorist fact, since these are states that have not suffered as other parts of the planet the rise of international terrorism, especially so far this century and especially from the hand of Islamist radicalism.

The round of declarations was opened by Argentina itself in July, on the anniversary of the AMIA massacre. In mid-August it was Paraguay's turn, while Brazil then announced its intention to follow in the same footsteps. Then the United States catalyzed the process, so that in the framework the III Hemispheric Ministerial lecture on Combating Terrorism, held in mid-January 2020 in Bogota, both Colombia and Honduras proceeded to include Hezbollah in lists of terrorist organizations. For his part, the Guatemalan president-elect pledged to take a similar measure when he assumes the presidency.

The cataloguing already effectively carried out by Argentina, Paraguay, Colombia and Honduras (countries attentive to the activity of Hezbollah in the so-called Triple Border or to its involvement in drug trafficking), and the not yet executed, but supposedly imminent, cataloguing of Brazil and Guatemala should help in a more forceful fight against this radical group by the national security forces and in the sentences of the respective courts of justice.

If already in 2018 the arrest of part of the network of the Barakat clan represented a step forward in the police coordination of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay in the shared border area (the Triple Frontier, a place of intense commercial activity and of financing and concealment of Hezbollah operatives, sheltered by elements of a large Muslim population), the steps of 2019 constitute a decisive action.

Infiltration in Latin America

Hezbollah militants and cells have been able to penetrate Latin America in the last decades, first of all by taking advantage of the Lebanese diaspora. As a result of the civil war experienced by Lebanon between 1975 and 1990, thousands of people emigrated to the American continent, sometimes settling in places where there was already a certain Arab presence, as was the case of Palestinians or Syrians. Although some of these immigrants were Christians, others were Muslims; awareness among the latter of the fight against Israel led to the formalization of networks for financing radical groups, in a process of money laundering from the profuse commercial activity - and also smuggling - carried out in many of these enclaves.

A strategic point in this dynamic has been the Triple Border, where some 25,000 people of Lebanese origin live, as well as other Arab groups: it is the area with the most Muslims in Latin America. The porous border connects Ciudad del Este (Paraguay), with 400,000 inhabitants; Foz de Iguazú (Brazil), with 300,000, and Puerto Iguazú (Argentina), with 82,000. It is a hotbed of illicit activities linked to money laundering, counterfeiting, smuggling and drug trafficking. Illicit trade in the tri-border area is estimated to be worth some US$18 billion a year. The authorities have been able to identify Hezbollah financing networks, as well as the presence of group operatives (the preparations for the Buenos Aires bombings of 1992 and 1994 were traced back to this tri-border enclave). Last year, Assad Ahmad Barakat and some fifteen members of his clan, dedicated to generating funds for Hezbollah, were arrested.

Other points of support for Hezbollah have been certain places in Brazil with mosques and radicalized Shiite cultural centers, which host activities of extremist clerics such as Bilal Mohsen Wehbe. On the other hand, Hugo Chavez's rapprochement strategy with Iran implied a close partnership manifested in the submission of Venezuelan passports to Islamists and their participation in the drug business under the protection of Chavez's leadership. This interrelation also contributed to its greater dispersion throughout the region, through Hezbollah's progressive ties with those who participate in the drug trafficking structure, such as the FARC or some Mexican cartels (Los Zetas and Sinaloa).

Signaling cascade

Argentina opened the round of Hezbollah finger-pointing (and creation, in most cases, of lists of terrorist groups, which did not previously exist in Latin American countries) on the 25th anniversary of the AMIA bombing, in July 2019. The then President Mauricio Macri, who had put an end to the Kirchnerist presidencies, of certain complicity with Iran, approved the creation of a public registry of persons and entities linked to acts of terrorism and its financing (RePET).

On the occasion of the important anniversary, the University Secretary of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, encouraged the countries of the continent to make this subject of declaration against Hezbollah.

Paraguay followed in Argentina's footsteps a month later. The government of Mario Abdo Benítez had been criticized for not acting decisively in the Triple Border, whose smuggling, such as tobacco, and other illicit activities feed the perception of corruption that accompanies the country's politicians. The Paraguayan president also plans to introduce a package of legislative reforms against money laundering.

Brazil announced on August 20 its intention to proceed in the same way as its two neighbors, although it has not yet implemented this decision. At the end of February 2020, Eduardo Bolsonaro, son of the Brazilian president and national deputy, confirmed that the step would be taken "soon"; he suggested that the delay in adopting the measure was due to the fact that the application of the terrorist group grade is also being considered for other organizations, such as Hamas.

In December it was the advertisement of Guatemala, whose elected president, Alejandro Giammattei, communicated that when he took position he would put Hezbollah on a black list. Giammattei linked the decision to a pro-Israeli policy that would also lead him to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, following the example of the United States (Honduras and Paraguay are also on the same line). Giammattei took office on January 14, but has not yet implemented his promises.

Behind these moves by Latin American countries was U.S. diplomacy. The deployment of this was evident in the third meeting of the Hemispheric Ministerial lecture on Combating Terrorism, an initiative promoted by Washington with Hezbollah in its sights, among other objectives. This meeting was held on January 20, 2020 in Bogota and was attendance by the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo.

Colombia took advantage of the meeting, which it hosted, to announce its consideration of Hezbollah as a terrorist group . President Iván Duque announced that three days before the country's National Security committee he had adopted the U.S. and European Union lists of terrorist individuals and organizations. The approved list included the ELN guerrillas and FARC dissidents, and the former FARC disappeared from the list.

Honduras, the Central American country that is the most compliant with US strategies, also made its international advertisement in the same lecture. Its foreign minister commented at the end of a previousmeeting of the National Security and Defense committee that Honduras had designated Hezbollah as a terrorist group and proposed to create a registry of persons and entities linked to terrorism and its financing.