The presence and activities of Iran and Hezbollah in Latin America are deeply concerning due to their multifaceted operations in the region, as well as their strategies, objectives, and implications for regional and global security, Mexican lawyer and writer who specializes in the geopolitical dynamics of the Middle East Ilan Eichner said in a late June op-ed for The Times of Israel.
“Hezbollah’s priorities in Latin America are closely linked to Iran’s geopolitical interests. Prominent among these is to generate income through illicit activities such as drug trafficking, smuggling, and money laundering, with the aim of obtaining essential resources to maintain its operations in the Middle East and, as such, reduce Iran’s financial dependence,” Eichner told Diálogo on August 19. “Hezbollah engages in intelligence networking and operations in the region, creating logistics and operational support structures, which can be ‘woken up’ to execute terrorist actions when they need them.”
According to experts, Hezbollah, an Islamist movement with one of the most powerful paramilitary forces in the Middle East, conducts many of its illicit activities in South America’s triple borders: The first, the Triple Frontier between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, with its neural center in Ciudad del Este. The second is the Andean triple border, made up of Chile, Peru, and Bolivia. And the third is the maritime border between Colón, Panama; Maicao, Colombia; and Punto Fijo, Venezuela, Argentine daily La Nación reported on July 24.
“In addition, Hezbollah resorts to networks for trafficking and smuggling of goods, weapons, and illicit substances, with the Tri-Border region being the key strategic point for these operations,” Eichner added. “The profits made in this area are integrated into the formal Iranian economy through their front companies.”
On August 15, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned one of Hezbollah’s business networks for its involvement in shipping Iranian goods such as oil and liquefied gas to Yemen and the United Arab Emirates, with the backing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“It can never be forgotten that Hezbollah is the Islamic Republic of Iran’s first line of defense. And when it needs to, it can activate its cells to carry out attacks for its geopolitical interests,” Joseph Humire, executive director of Washington-based think tank Center for a Secure Free Society, told German broadcaster DW. “We need more allies in Latin America who take this threat very seriously. Not only in the fight against terrorism, but also in the fight against transnational organized crime.”
Although authoritarian governments with strong populist components differ in terms of the basic ideologies of their projects, they are prone to ally with each other, Esther Shabot, a sociologist and specialist in Jewish studies at Mexico’s Ibero-American University, told Mexican newspaper Excelsior. “Iran focuses its diplomatic and military efforts on certain weak countries in Latin America, such as Venezuela.”
“Hezbollah employs a number of highly sophisticated methods for money laundering and disguising the origin of its funds,” Eichner said. “Among the most prominent mechanisms are front companies operating as legitimate businesses, such as electronics stores, supermarkets, and currency exchange houses, which function both to launder money from illicit activities and to finance activities linked to radical Islamic terrorism; or to expand its influence in the region through social activities or the payment of bribes to government officials.”
“Iran and Hezbollah’s connections to Venezuela’s dictatorship endanger regional security by helping the Maduro regime cling to power,” Henry Ziemer, a research associate with the Americas Program at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Diálogo. “Iran’s role in supplying military equipment and Hezbollah’s role in training Venezuelan paramilitary ‘colectivos’ show how both actors work together to prop up authoritarian regimes by repressing their own citizens and threatening their neighbors, particularly in the case of Venezuela’s ongoing provocations toward Guyana.”
Iran has backed Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela following the July 28 elections that many leaders worldwide have condemned as fraudulent, Venezuelan media Primicia reported on August 5.
“Venezuela is an important element of this relationship since former Venezuelan Vice President Tareck El Aissami [of Syrian Lebanese descent], helped connect Hezbollah operatives to lucrative drug trafficking operations, as well as money laundering through Colombian company Importadora Silvania,” Ziemer said. “As the Maduro regime intensifies its crackdown in response to citizen pressure for democratic change, the significance of criminal proceeds and the role of Hezbollah and Iran in helping to evade sanctions can only grow in the near future.”
In the case of Argentina, which suffered two attacks from Hezbollah in the 1990s, President Javier Milei was alerted to a possible Iranian attack in early August, Spanish newspaper El País reported.
“Hezbollah constantly sets up infrastructures in various places, which it can detonate if they deem it convenient. A clear example of this strategy is the AMIA bombing in Argentina in 1994,” Eichner said. “This attack was the result of prolonged and meticulous preparation, where the necessary groundwork was laid, without the knowledge that it would end in an attack of that magnitude.”
Amid the escalation of tensions in the Middle East, the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship, recommended Argentine citizens to avoid traveling to Lebanon.
“The planning and possible execution of terrorist activities by these actors constitute a direct threat to the security of countries in the hemisphere. It is crucial to keep in mind that Hezbollah’s operations, often underpinned by local corruption and institutional weakness, exacerbate governance problems and undermine the rule of law,” Eichner added. “It is critical to highlight the need for greater international cooperation to counter these threats, as well as the strengthening of legal frameworks across the region that allow for more forceful action against Hezbollah’s illicit activities.”
