An Examination of the Nature of Hezbollah’s Evolving Presence in Latin America

Abstract

Hezbollah has proven itself to be an organization of global reach. Since their inception in 1982, Hezbollah has grown its network across five continents, capable of conducting lethal operations and raising tens of millions of dollars in revenue annually through illicit activities. Within the organization’s reach, Latin America is one region where Hezbollah has realized enormous success. The purpose of this research is to examine the nature of Hezbollah’s presence in Latin America from the 1980s through 2016. This study reveals the evolution of Hezbollah by examining documents relating to the organization’s presence in Latin America across three time periods. The first period marked the arrival of Hezbollah, along with the advent of proselytization and recruitment efforts in the region, beginning in 1983. The second period, beginning in the early 1990s, was defined by Hezbollah going operational in Latin America, with the organization activating its Latin American network to conduct terror attacks and raise significant levels of revenue through the region’s lucrative illicit economy. The third period was the post 9/11 era. This period, beginning in late 2001, was defined by a marked increase in scrutiny of Hezbollah in Latin America by western intelligence and law enforcement agencies. In turn, Hezbollah continued their operations, but focused on raising revenue and growing their network throughout the region, rather than conducting terror attacks during this time. In sum, this study reveals that Hezbollah arrived in Latin America in 1983, establishing a modest beachhead in several Muslim communities and evolved to become a fully operational organization capable of gaining sympathizers, training recruits, directing operatives, generating substantial amounts of revenue, conducting terror attacks, creating alliances with organized criminal enterprises, and creating an alliance with a national government.