Latin America’s Socialists are Attracting Terrorist Groups as Their Allies
The new wave of leftist governments in Latin America, along with an increasingly brazen posture from Tehran has given Iran and its proxy terrorist groups a favorable environment to mingle with organized crime, cross borders with impunity, and engage in more direct state-to-state exchanges, analysts say.
“There’s always been a certain level of, not only networks, but also influence by both Hezbollah and behind Hezbollah, Iran, in the region,” said Evan Ellis, a former State Department official and research professor of Latin American studies at the U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute.”That increased with respect to the state-to-state Iranian engagement largely through populist actors in the mid-2000s, with a new crop of leftist populist leaders: Hugo Chavez, Evo Morales in Bolivia, and certainly Rafael Correa in Ecuador, among others.” A map depicts the political leanings of governments in Latin America. (The Epoch Times)
The movement includes the recent reported entry of Iran and Hezbollah agents into the region through Venezuela, as evidenced by a 2022 incident in which a plane was grounded and seized in Argentina upon request of the United States. The state-owned aircraft had five Iranian nationals on board. Paraguay officials and others claimed they were linked to the Quds Force, which is designated a terrorist organization by the United States. Argentina denied reports that crew members were linked to Quds. The seizure coincided with the return to the region of many of the same “populist actors,” Mr. Ellis said. “Essentially, you’re taking Quds Forces operatives and Hezbollah-affiliated personnel around the region.”
“In recent months what you’ve seen also is a broadening of that Iranian engagement with a trip to Nicaragua to talk about oil deals. And more recently, a three nation trip by President [Ebrahim] Raisi, accompanied by several ministers, including his defense minister, to Venezuela, as well as to Nicaragua and to Cuba, where several deals were signed in each place.” The Iranian links in the region have become more apparent amid the Israel–Hamas war. On. Nov. 8, two alleged Hezbollah operatives were arrested in Brazil for planning attacks in the country. And warnings of a terror threat to the United States have increased, particularly in relation to its porous southern border.
Chile and Colombia, both with newly-elected leftist administrations, recalled their ambassadors to Israel on Oct. 31 and criticized the Jewish country’s offensive against Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists. The term “21st century socialism” is commonly used by Venezuela’s socialist dictatorship and others to characterize their ideology. Despite the handful of arrests, Iran and proxy Hezbollah’s activity is ongoing in the region and remains largely “undisturbed,” Mr. Ottolenghi said.
Complicity and Close Ties The enabling of illegal activity by Latin American leftist governments and their direct criminal engagement with Iran have been extensively reported.
Key state actors have facilitated transnational terrorist activity by providing criminals, who are wanted by Interpol, transport on state-run airlines as well as real passports with fake names. “The speed and ease with which Hezbollah operatives are able to secure false documentation in Latin America should not come as a surprise,” stated Matthew Levitt in a 2013 House Homeland Security hearing. At the time, Mr. Levitt was the counterterrorism and intelligence director at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
State enablers include former president Hugo Chávez and his successor, incumbent Nicolás Maduro, previously the Minister of Foreign Relations, according to former Venezuelan officials and intelligence reports. Former staff member of the Venezuelan embassy in Iraq, Misael Lopez, went public in 2017 denouncing a passport- and visa-for-sale scheme based out of the embassy in Caracas, which he told CNN was widespread and state sanctioned. Mr. Lopez cooperated with a CNN investigation that had access to a classified intelligence document linking former Venezuelan Vice President Tareck El Aissami to 173 Venezuelan passports and ID’s that were issued to individuals from the Middle East. The investigation revealed that it included people connected to Hezbollah. Former Venezuelan intelligence officials also claim Mr. El Aissami recruited agents for Hezbollah and worked to expand its spying and trafficking networks in Latin America, according to a New York Times report.
In 2021, the Israel Hayom newspaper published information …
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