Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Hizballah and Its Mission in Latin America

2012; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 35; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/1057610x.2012.648155

1521-0731

William Costanza,

Brazilian History and Foreign Policy

Abstract The activities of Hizballah in Latin America generally have been viewed by governmental authorities in the region as a security concern primarily because of its importance in bilateral relations with the United States rather than as an internal terrorist threat targeted against their sovereign interests. This article explores Hizballah's network and past activities in South America to assess the nature of Hizballah's strategic aims in the region in support of its global organizational goals. The author argues that the perception of Hizballah as a legitimate political organization by Latin American governments has hampered efforts to effectively apply counterterrorism resources to root out the entrenched Hizballah infrastructure in the region that can potentially carry out directives by the Hizballah leadership or by serving as a proxy of Iran. Notes 1. The various transliterations of Hizballah include Hizbullah, Hizbollah, Hezballah, Hisbollah and Hizb Allah. The author chose to use Hizballah because it is the standard spelling most often used in U.S. government documents. 2. Patterns of Global Terrorism 2009, U.S. Department of State. Available at http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2009/140900.htm (accessed 10 November 2010). 3. “An Open Letter: The Hizballah Program,” Jerusalem Quarterly, Fall 1988. Available at http://www.standwithus.com/pdfs/flyers/hezbollah_program.pdf (accessed 10 November 2010). 4. Marius Deeb, “Militant Islamic Movements in Lebanon: Origins, Social Basis and Ideology,” Occasional Paper Series (Washington DC: Georgetown University, 1986), p. 19. 5. “Islamic Jihad Says It Bombed Embassy,” Los Angeles Times. Available at http://articles.latimes.com/1992-03-19/news/mn-5905_1_islamic-jihad (accessed 11 November 2010). 6. FRONTLINE interview with Robert Baer, 22 March 2002. Robert Baer was a former CIA case officer who served in the Middle East for many years. He is the author of See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism (New York: Three Rivers Press, 2002). Available at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/tehran/interviews/baer.html (accessed 19 November 2010). 7. Ilan Berman, “No Diplomatic Relations Until Terrorist Funding Stops,” Mclatchy-Tribune News Service, 12 February 2009. Available at http://www.ilanberman.com/5908/no-diplomatic-relations-until-terrorist-funding (accessed 12 November 2010). 8. Martin Rudner, “Hizbullah Terrorism Finance: Fund-Raising and Money-Laundering,” Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 33 (2010), pp. 705–706. 9. Blanca Madani, “Huzbullah's Global Finance Network.” Available at http://www.jewishdefense.org/hezbollah.htm (accessed 26 September 2010). 10. Hamid Ghiryafi, “Hizballah Officials Carrying Donations Reportedly Killed in Lebanese Plane Crash,” al-Siyasah [Kuwait], 29 December 2003. 11. Tony Badran, “Levant in Focus: Hizbullah Acts Local, Thinks Global,” Foundation for Defense of Democracies, reprinted in Jerusalem Post, 23 June 2010. Available at http://cgis.jpost.com/Blogs/levant/entry/hezbollah_acts_local_thinks_global (accessed 24 November 2010). 12. Testimony of Matthew Levitt, Senior Fellow and Director of Terrorism Studies, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, before the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate, 25 May 2005. 13. Douglas Farah, “Hezbollah's External Support Network in West Africa and Latin America,” International Assessment and Strategy Center, 4 August 2006. Available at http://www.strategycenter.net/printVersion/print_pub.asp?pubID=118 (accessed 24 October 2010). 14. Patricia Taft and David Poplack, “The Crime-Terrorism Nexus: Threat Convergence Risks in the Tri-Border Area,” Fund for Peace, June 2009, p. 15. 15. Ely Karmon, “Iran and its Proxy Hezbollah: Strategic Penetration in Latin America (WP),” Working Paper, Real Instituto Elcano, (RIE), Madrid, 4 April 2009. Available at http://www.ict.il/Articles/tabid/66/Articlsid/677/currentpage/1/Default.aspx (accessed 27 October 2010), pp. 31–32. 16. Parisa Hafeszi, “Iran, Venezuela in ‘Axis of Unity’ Against US,” Reuters, 2 July 2007. 17. Karmon, “Iran and its Proxy Hezbollah,” pp. 6–9. 18. Braden Webb, “Paraguay's Persian Presence: Iran's New Friend in Latin America,” Council on Hemispheric Affairs, 21 August 2008. Available at http://www.coha.org/paraguay's-persian-presence-iran's-new-friend-in-latin-america/ (accessed 27 October 2010). 19. John Kiriahou, “Iran's Latin America Push,” Los Angeles Times, 8 September 2008. 20. Karmon, “Iran and its Proxy Hezbollah,” p. 18. 21. Appendix 2: Summary of the Argentinian Attorney General Petition Regarding Issuance of an Arrest Warrant for the Perpetrators of the 1994 Attack on the Jewish Community Center (AMIA) in Buenos Aires, quoted in Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies (C.S.S.), November 2006. 22. Imad Mughniyah was the head of Hizballah's External Security Service in 1994 in addition to being a key military advisor to Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Mughniyah also served as head of the Jihad Council, which is one of the five councils that report to the Shura Council, the top decision-making body of Hizballah. The Jihad Council is responsible for terrorist operations in Lebanon and worldwide. Mughniyah has been implicated in numerous terrorist attacks including the attack against the U.S. embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983 and the hijacking of flight TWA 847. He was on the U.S. most wanted list for terrorists acts. He was killed in a car-bomb blast in the northeast outskirts of Damascus, Syria on 12 February 2008. Global Jihad. Available at http://www.globaljihad.net/print.asp?id=331 (accessed 22 November 2010). 23. For an alternative view see Tom Diaz and Barbara Newman, Lightning Out of Lebanon: Hezbollah Terrorists on American Soil (New York: Ballantine Books, 2006), p. 125. They believe that the AMIA attack was an Iran-sponsored operation that drew on local Hizballah support that Iran had previous established in the region. Although they do not name their sources, the authors persuasively argue that the AMIA bombing was planned far in advance of the Israeli attacks in the Bekaa Valley and the kidnapping of Dirani in contrast to the views of the retired senior Israeli intelligence officials who believed Israeli actions precipitated the attacks. The Hizballah M.O., which relies on careful planning, compartmentation, and implementation, suggests that the operation against the AMIA building had been in the works for months and not simply a quick response (an interval of only one month) by Hizballah. Thus, the Diaz and Newman scenario appears far more plausible regarding motivations behind the attack and tracks with the conclusions of the Argentine investigation. 24. Shmuel Bar, “Deterring Non-State Terrorist Groups: The Case of Hizballah,” Comparative Strategy 26 (2007), pp. 477–478, 490 (note 22). 25. Eitan Azani, “Hezbollah—A Global Terrorist Organization—Situational Report as of September 2006,” a prepared statement submitted to House Committee on International Relations, Hezbollah's Global Reach, Joint Hearings, 109th Congress, 2nd Sess. (2006), p. 56. 26. Badran, “Levant in Focus.” 27. Bar, “Deterring Non-State Terrorist Groups,” p. 478. 28. Paul D. Taylor, “Latin American Security Challenges: A Collaborative Inquiry from North and South,” Newport Paper 21, Newport Papers, Naval War College, 2004, p. 24. 29. Anthony Faiola, “U.S. Terrorist Search Reaches Paraguay; Black Market Hub Called Key Finance Center for Middle East Extremists,” Washington Post, 13 October 2001. 30. Ricardo Galhardo, “Paraguai pede a prisao de libanes no Brasil,” O Globo, 6 November 2001. 31. Mark S. Steinitz, “Middle East Terrorist Activity in Latin America,” CSIS, Policy Papers on the Americas, XIV, Study 7, July 2003, p. 9. 32. Eduardo Szklarz and Martin Barillas, “Argentina Issues International Arrest Warrant for Terrorist Wanted in Bombing Masterminded by Iran,” The Cutting Edge, 29 May 2009. Available at http://www.thecuttingedgenews.com/index.php?article=1134&page=&pagename=(accessed 1 December 2010). 33. Kevin G. Hall, “Alleged Fund-Raiser for Hezbollah Arrested in Paraguay,” Knight-Rider/Tribune News Service, 1 November 2002. 34. Diaz and Newman, Lightning Out of Lebanon, p. 190. 35. Roberto Cosso, “Brazil: $50 Million Remitted to Terrorist Groups from Tri-Border Area,” Folha de Sao Paulo, 3 December 2001. 36. “Film Piracy and It's Connection to Organized Crime and Terrorism,” Research Brief, RAND Corporation, 2009. 37. Testimony of Matthew Levitt, Senior Fellow and Director of Terrorism Studies, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, before the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate, 25 May 2005. 38. “Paraguay: Authorities Uncover New Route Used by Hizballah Leader Barakat,” ABC Color, 27 May 2002. 39. Karmon, “Iran and its Proxy Hezbollah,” p. 19, note 68. 40. “Suspected Hezbollah Financier Arrested in Paraguay,” AFP, 15 June 2010. Available at http://www.googlehostednews/afp/article/ALegM5g2Qu6mj7X617uE9Y3B9xSmcC14hw (accessed 27 October 2010). 41. Matthew Hardwood, “Hezbollah's Tri-Border Hub,” Security Management, December 2010. Available at http://www.securitymanagement.com/article/hezbollahs-tri-border-hub-007779 (accessed 4 December 2010). 42. “Two Sentenced for Trafficking Counterfeit Goods,” Department of Justice Press Release, FBI Philadelphia, 14 July 2010. Available at http://philadelphia.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel10/ph071410.htm (accessed 4 December 2010). 43. Pablo Gato and Robert Windrem, “Hezbollah Builds a Western Base,” MSNBC.com, 9 May 2007. Available at http://www.msnbc.comcleanprint/CleanPrintProxy.aspx?1287273372193 (accessed 16 October 2010). 44. Carl Anthony Wege, “The Hizballah Security Apparatus,” Perspectives on Terrorism 2(7) (2008). 45. Diaz and Newman, Lightning Out of Lebanon, pp. 93–94. 46. U.S. Department of the Treasury, “Treasury Targets Hizballah Financial Network,” Press Center, 9 December 2010. 47. Jeffrey Goldberg, “A Reporter at Large: In the Party of God (Part II),” The New Yorker, 28 October 2002. 48. Leavitt testimony. The information was derived from a presentation by Chilean Police Intelligence, Department of Foreign Affairs, at a law enforcement conference in Santiago, Chile, 2002. 49. Marc Perelman, “Feds Call Chile Resort a Terror Hot Spot,” Forward.com, 23 January 2003. Available at http://www.forward.com/articles/9036/ (accessed 24 October 2010). 50. Leavitt testimony. 51. Perelman, “Feds Call Chile Resort a Terror Hot Spot.” 52. Badran, “Levant in Focus.” 53. Nikolas Kozloff, “Rio Olympic Games and the Politics of Terror,” Buzzflash, 3 December 2010. 54. Diaz and Newman, Lightning Out of Lebanon, pp. 14–15. 55. Ibid., p. 14. 56. “U.S. Targets Hizballah in Venezuela,” U.S. Department of Treasury Facebook Page, 18 June 2008. Available at http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=12564239676&topic=5005 (accessed 6 December 2010). 57. Doug Farah, “Money Laundering and Bulk Cash Smuggling Challenges for the Merida Initiative,” Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Mexico Institute, Working Paper on U.S.-Mexico Security Cooperation, May 2010, p. 19. 58. Chris Kraul and Sebastian Rotella, “Drug Probe Finds Hezbollah Link,” Los Angeles Times, 22 October 2008. For further details see “En Colombia Desarticulan Organizcion vinculada a Hezbollah,” Noticias, 22 October 2008. Available at http://noticias24.com/actualidad/noticia/19093/en-colombia–desarticulan-organizacion-vinculada-a-hezbollahnoticias24.com/actualidad/noticia/19093/en-colombia–desarticulan-organizacion-vinculada-a-hezbollah (accessed 6 December 2010). The statement by the Colombian Fiscalia “Por Lavar Activos de Narco y Paramilitaries: Captuados Integrantes de Organizacion Internacional” can be found at http://www.fiscalia.gov.co.PAG/DIVULGA/noticias/lavado/LavaRedInternal/Oct21.htm 59. “Argentine Bomb Probe Judge Sacked,” BBC News, 3 August 2005. Available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4743927.stm (accessed 7 December 2010). 60. “Argentina Removes Bomb Case Judge,” BBC News, 3 December 2005. Available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3289359 (accessed 7 December 2010). 61. “Flashback: Argentina Bomb, BBC News, 25 August 2003. Available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3179861.stm (accessed 7 December 2010). 62. “Iran Blamed for Argentine Bomb,” BBC News, 3 November 2003. Available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3245641.stm (accessed 7 December 2010). 63. “Iran Charged Over Argentina Bomb,” BBC News, 25 October 2006. Available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6085768.stm (accessed 7 December 2010). 64. Appendix 2. Attorney General's Report. 65. Karmon, “Iran and its Proxy Hezbollah,” pp. 16–17. 66. Eduardo Szklarz and Martin Barillas, “Argentina Issues International Arrest Warrant for Terrorist Wanted in Bombing Masterminded by Iran,” The Cutting Edge, 25 May 2009. Available at http://www.thecuttingedgenews.com/index.php?article=11343&pageid=pagename= (accessed 1 December 2010). 67. Appendix 2. Attorney General's Report. See note 22. 68. Appendix 2. Attorney General's Report. 69. U.S. Department of the Treasury, “Treasury Designates Extremist, Two Companies Supporting Hizballah in Tri-Border Area,” Office of Public Affairs, 20 June 2004. 70. U.S. Department of the Treasury, “Hizballah Fundraising Network in the Triple Frontier,” Office of Public Affairs, 6 December 2006. 71. U.S. Department of State, “Chapter 2. Country Reports: Western Hemisphere Overview,” Country Reports on Terrorism 2009, 5 August 2010. Available at http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2009/140888.htm (accessed 1 November 2010). 72. Delanne Novaes de Souza, “Brazil's Role in the Fight Against Terrorism,” Revista Brasilera de Intelligencia, Brasilia ABIN 3(4) (2007). 73. Marco Paulo Buzanelli, “Encontro de Estudos de Terrorismo,” 2, Brasilia (2003). 74. U.S. Department of State, Country Reports (2009). 75. Ibid. 76. Ibid. 77. Ibid. 78. Ibid.