US Should Push Brazil, Mexico to Label Hezbollah a Terrorist Group, Ex-State Official Says
To counter Hezbollah’s drug trafficking and other extensive illegal money-raising efforts in Latin America, the U.S. should encourage more countries in the region to designate the Lebanon-based group a terrorist organization, a former State Department official told lawmakers Oct. 21.
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Brazil and Mexico, the most populous countries in Latin America, would be particularly welcome additions to the list of those imposing terrorism sanctions on Hezbollah, said Nathan Sales, distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council who was counterterrorism coordinator at State during the first Trump administration. Brazil and Mexico would join Argentina, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Paraguay, all of which took such moves during the first Trump administration.
In written testimony to the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, Sales suggested that expanding sanctions on Hezbollah now would be especially timely, as the group may be forced to become more reliant on its Latin American operations to fund terrorist attacks across the globe. Hezbollah’s main financial sponsor, Iran, may become less generous because it faces increasing sanctions to weaken its nuclear weapons program and support for terrorism (see 2509290051 and 2507300062).
Sales urged policymakers to avoid “half-measures” that sanction Hezbollah’s military wing but not its political wing, which would create “loopholes” that Hezbollah could exploit to continue its operations. In April, Paraguay expanded its 2019 terrorist designation of Hezbollah’s armed wing to cover the entire organization (see 2504240065).
Sales also called on U.S. agencies, including State and the Treasury Department, to help Latin American countries build up their ability to enforce sanctions, such as financial intelligence units that can identify suspicious people and patterns. He said Latin America also needs assistance to increase its capacity to regulate banks, investigate crimes and prosecute bad actors.
Besides drug trafficking, Hezbollah's Latin American activities include human and weapons trafficking, contraband smuggling, money laundering and passport falsification. The group has been a U.S. designated Foreign Terrorist Organization since 1997.