Hezbollah’s complex web of connections

When Paraguay announced it was designating Hezbollah as an international terrorist organisation last week, it created a new legal basis to take action against the Lebanese group’s money laundering and terror-financing activities. These fundraising operations span the globe, from Latin America and the US to West Africa. Hezbollah exploits existing smuggling routes, links to cartels and relies on family networks to boost its coffers, without having to develop a criminal infrastructure.

With Hezbollah’s proscription, Asuncion can help reduce the group’s influence. The fight against Hezbollah needs to be global and Latin America, where much of the group’s illicit activities are concentrated, is a good place to start. Until recently, Latin American governments were unwilling to label Hezbollah a terrorist group. Last month, however, Argentina took the unprecedented step of doing so, noting Hezbollah’s responsibility for terror attacks against an Israeli embassy and a Jewish community centre on Argentinian soil in 1992 and 1994. The designations followed Argentina’s creation of a public registry for terror entities and individuals.

Argentina’s actions clearly influenced Paraguay, its neighbour to the north, whose government previously refused to acknowledge the obvious. In January, Paraguay’s then foreign minister Luis Castiglioni publicly denied that Hezbollah had engaged in illicit finance activities in the country. Interior minister Juan Ernesto Villamayor also downplayed the issue. Even then Supreme Court president Victor Manuel Nunez Rodriguez said he had no evidence Hezbollah was financing terrorism. The Trump administration urged Paraguay to reconsider. Multiple visits by senior officials – including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Paraguay in April and Argentina in July – ultimately persuaded Paraguay that it needed to get tougher on Hezbollah.

Even before the designation, Paraguay extradited a handful of suspected Hezbollah operatives to the US. However, the creation of a new legal instrument was necessary, given that Paraguay has for years been a key hub of the group’s illicit finance operations. For four decades, the terrorist group built extensive infrastructure in the Tri-Border Area of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.

The TBA is a metropolitan centre, home to nearly one million residents and a well-developed tourism infrastructure, including three international airports. It is an ideal place for Hezbollah to establish roots and raise funds, given the pervasive corruption in Paraguay’s government, not to mention its weak judicial system. The TBA is shared by three countries, with two languages, three currencies, weak border controls and well-established smuggling routes that have contributed to an illicit economy, which Brazilian authorities estimate is worth $18 billion a year. Hezbollah has taken its share of that economy through a network of local residents; the TBA has one of the largest Shiite Lebanese communities in Latin America.

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Hezbollah’s modus operandi in the TBA is a miniature version of what it does in Lebanon to co-opt Shiites. As in Lebanon, Hezbollah has funded Shiite communal institutions across Latin America. Where those institutions already existed, it has offered support. As a result, clerics in local mosques, instructors of youth movements such as the scouts, and teachers are imparting Hezbollah dogma to local communities.

Communities in Latin America regularly mark May 25, the day Israel withdrew from south Lebanon, with carefully choreographed communal events. They frequently welcome Hezbollah and Iranian clerics as speakers and support the group’s media with local correspondents and get support, in turn, from Hezbollah’s publications. For example, via the Lebanese embassy in Paraguay, Hezbollah mounted a campaign to prevent the extradition to the US of suspected Hezbollah financier Nader Mohamad Farhat. Shiite communities in the TBA also join in mourning Hezbollah’s fallen.

The writer is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies

 

Hezbollahs complex web of connections

When Paraguay announced it was designating Hezbollah as an international terrorist organisation last week, it created a new legal basis to take action against the Lebanese groups money laundering and terror-financing activities. These fundraising operations span the globe, from Latin America and the US to West Africa. Hezbollah exploits existing smuggling routes, links to cartels and relies on family networks to boost its coffers, without having to develop a criminal infrastructure. With Hezbollahs proscription, Asuncion can help reduce the groups influence. The fight against Hezbollah needs to be global and Latin America, where much of the groups illicit activities are concentrated, is a good place to start. Until recently, Latin American governments were unwilling to label Hezbollah a terrorist group. Last month, however, Argentina took the unprecedented step of doing so, noting Hezbollahs responsibility for terror attacks against an Israeli embassy and a Jewish community centre on Argentinian soil in 1992 and 1994. The designations followed Argentinas creation of a public registry for terror entities and individuals. Argentinas actions clearly influenced Paraguay, its neighbour to the north, whose government previously refused to acknowledge the obvious. In January, Paraguays then foreign minister Luis Castiglioni publicly denied that Hezbollah had engaged in illicit finance activities in the country. Interior minister Juan Ernesto Villamayor also downplayed the issue. Even then Supreme Court president Victor Manuel Nunez Rodriguez said he had no evidence Hezbollah was financing terrorism. The Trump administration urged Paraguay to reconsider. Multiple visits by senior officials including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Paraguay in April and Argentina in July ultimately persuaded Paraguay that it needed to get tougher on Hezbollah. Even before the designation, Paraguay extradited a handful of suspected Hezbollah operatives to the US. However, the creation of a new legal instrument was necessary, given that Paraguay has for years been a key hub of the groups illicit finance operations. For four decades, the terrorist group built extensive infrastructure in the Tri-Border Area of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. The TBA is a metropolitan centre, home to nearly one million residents and a well-developed tourism infrastructure, including three international airports. It is an ideal place for Hezbollah to establish roots and raise funds, given the pervasive corruption in Paraguays government, not to mention its weak judicial system. The TBA is shared by three countries, with two languages, three currencies, weak border controls and well-established smuggling routes that have contributed to an illicit economy, which Brazilian authorities estimate is worth $18 billion a year. Hezbollah has taken its share of that economy through a network of local residents; the TBA has one of the largest Shiite Lebanese communities in Latin America. READ MORE Hezbollahs vile influence spans the globe Hezbollah has shed all pretence of defending the weak and vulnerable Argentina takes action to freeze Hezbollah assets Tehran is preparing for a showdown with the US Hezbollahs modus operandi in the TBA is a miniature version of what it does in Lebanon to co-opt Shiites. As in Lebanon, Hezbollah has funded Shiite communal institutions across Latin America. Where those institutions already existed, it has offered support. As a result, clerics in local mosques, instructors of youth movements such as the scouts, and teachers are imparting Hezbollah dogma to local communities. Communities in Latin America regularly mark May 25, the day Israel withdrew from south Lebanon, with carefully choreographed communal events. They frequently welcome Hezbollah and Iranian clerics as speakers and support the groups media with local correspondents and get support, in turn, from Hezbollahs publications. For example, via the Lebanese embassy in Paraguay, Hezbollah mounted a campaign to prevent the extradition to the US of suspected Hezbollah financier Nader Mohamad Farhat. Shiite communities in the TBA also join in mourning Hezbollahs fallen. The writer is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies