The Israeli military response against Hamas in Gaza, following the October 7th massacre, and the current campaign in Lebanon against Hezbollah has also sparked criticism, even ire, on the part of a significant part of the international community. This phenomenon has not skipped several Latin American governments, especially those belonging to the “Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas” (ALBA), which includes Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and Bolivia. Shortly after the October 7th massacre, when Israel began striking Hamas in Gaza, La Paz cut diplomatic ties with Israel and presented a request to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to “investigate the situation in Palestine”, while the governments of Colombia and Chile recalled their ambassadors on the same day and later backed South Africa’s legal action against Israel before the ICC, together with Brazil and Mexico.
In early October 2024, Nicaragua also announced plans to cut diplomatic ties with Israel. The move is essentially symbolic, since relations between Israel and the central American country are nonexistent. It is worth recalling that, in June 2023, Nicaraguan President, Daniel Ortega, welcomed former Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi in Managua.
Nicaragua had already broken relations with Israel two times, once in 2010 under Ortega, and previously in 1982 under the Sandinista revolutionary regime.
On the contrary, Argentina’s newly-elected President, Javier Milei, as well asEl Salvador’s Nayyib Bukele, confirmed their support for Israel, with the latter comparing Hamas’ violence to the one perpetrated by the Maras and praising the liberation of the Palestinians from Hamas’ clutches.
Paraguay is also backing Israel while planning the relocation of its embassy to Jerusalem. In 2019, Paraguay also added Hamas and Hezbollah to its terrorist blacklist, along with ISIS and al-Qaeda.
This general situation generates concern, considering that Latin America has been a hub for terror activity for the last four decades, with its long history of terrorist attacks by local groups, including the FARC and ELN guerrillas in Colombia, and the Shining Path in Peru, as well as the longtime presence of Hezbollah, as explained by Jennifer Teale of the IDSF.
Hezbollah is not the only terrorist organization that found a safe harbor in Latin America. Starting in the 1990s, several other groups such as the Egyptian Islamic Group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Al-Qaeda, and more recently the Islamic State (ISIS) have all found footholds in Latin America.
The reason why Islamist terrorism is widely present in Latin America is due to a series of reasons such as the possibility of exploiting illicit trafficking networks, especially for drugs and money laundering, porous borders, inadequate law enforcement, and lack of proper counter-terror laws.
There is no doubt that the undisputed Islamist organization who dominates Latin America is Hezbollah, which has been present and operational in the continent since the early 1980s. It has been relying mostly on a vast networking operation, implemented by Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Hezbollah has also been widely involved in drug trafficking and money-laundering activities, especially from its base in the Triple Frontier: the intersection point where the borders of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay meet.
Iran and Hezbollah’s current spearhead in Latin America is Venezuela, due to the strong links between Maduro’s regime and Teheran. Iran has invested heavily in Venezuelan oil refineries and assisted President Maduro’s regime in reviving their struggling oil industry. Maduro’s Venezuela has practically aligned with Iran’s radical axis, ramping up its vile rhetoric against Israel and the West, its accusations against Israel of “genocide” on the UN stage, and Maduro’s open anti-Semitism, accusing “international Zionism” of anti-government protests in his country.
Hezbollah managed to root itself on Venezuelan soil and establish networks that can operate throughout Latin America, taking advantage of the sizable Lebanese community in the country. A similar situation occurred in Brazil, another country with a vast Lebanese presence and it is not by coincidence that, in November 2023, the Brazilian security services unfoiled an attack against the country’s Jewish community, which was planned by Hezbollah.
In 2021, Colombia’s security apparatus thwarted an Iranian plot to assassinate two Israeli businessmen in the country and expelled two Hezbollah operatives.
In March 2024, the Peruvian police arrested an Iranian and a Peruvian national who were planning an attack on an Israeli person at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), scheduled to be held in November in the Andean country.
In addition, on August 16, Argentina’s Federal Police thwarted an Islamist terror plot reportedly linked to ISIS and the Taliban to murder Jews in Mendoza, the second such plot uncovered in Argentina this year.
While these plots were exposed in time to be thwarted, they are a proof that the Jewish communities and Israelis in Latin America remain a primary target of both Sunni and Shia terrorist organizations that, until recently, have been able to operate with impunity.
Potential threats
Regarding potential targets, another aspect that must not be underestimated is the flourishing Israeli tourism industry in Latin America, with post-military “mochileros” who travel to these areas for long periods of time, often in remote parts, and could become a target of terrorists.
Given the current situation in Lebanon, with Hezbollah brought to its knees by the Israeli offensive and with Iran appearing hesitant to actively enter the field in support of its Lebanese proxy, it cannot be ruled out that the Iranian regime and Hezbollah may try to strike where they still have operational networks, and attempt to target Jewish communities and Israelis abroad. In September 2023, Mossad chief David Barnea announced that the Israeli intelligence organization has managed to thwart 27 attempted terrorist attacks by Iran over one year alone, including in Latin America. The normally quiet continent could be one of the most suitable areas, considering the huge gaps in the security sector both on the legislative level and on law enforcing.
One must not forget the difficulty of the authorities in controlling vast areas of the “selva”, the “sierra”, and the long, often impervious borders, such as the one between Colombia and Venezuela, whose neighboring areas have become strongholds for the FARC and ELN terror groups. Other problematic areas are the Vraem in Peru, where Sendero Luminoso is based, and the borders connecting Brazil with Bolivia, Peru and Paraguay, not difficult to cross and major transit points for drug traffickers, often linked to the Iranian terror network.
Extreme caution is therefore recommended when traveling throughout Latin America, not just in cities but also in the more remote natural areas, and avoid those countries hostile to Israelis and Jews.
This article was originally published in Jewish News Syndicate – JNS.org
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the movement
