Transcript Radical Islam in Latin America

Radical Islam in Latin
America
Dan Murdough
PSC 336
29 NOV 07
Overview
Muslim Demographics in Latin American countries
 Islam’s Footprint in Latin America
 March 1992: Bombing of Israeli Embassy
in Buenos Aires
 July 1994: Attack against the Argentine-Israeli
Mutual Association in Buenos Aires
 Tri-Border Activity: Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil
 Margarita Island
 What outside sources are responsible for this
activity in Latin America?
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Muslim Demographics in Latin
America
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Latin America
Pop:500 Million
Muslims~ Six
Million
Most active
countries:
Brazil:1.5 Million
(1%)
Argentina:700,000
(2%)
Islam’s Footprint in Latin America
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Islamic influence in Latin America has grown
significantly since the end of the 20th Century
1989: Argentina’s President Carlos Manem was
originally Muslim before converting to Catholicism
Large Amounts of Syrian and Lebanese
immigrants in the region
Islamic Organization of Latin America (IOLA)
based in Buenos Aires
King Fahd Cultural Center in Buenos Aires
IOLA sends thousands of Latin American Muslims
to the Hajj every year
March 1992: Bombing of Israeli Embassy
in Buenos Aires
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Carried out by ‘Islamic
Jihad’ a sect of Hezbollah
Terrorist drove a pick up
truck filled with explosives
into the embassy
Killed 29, injured 242,
most were Argentine
Civilians
At the time it was
Argentina’s worst act of
terror
Worst attack on Israeli
diplomacy outside of Israel
July 1994: Attack against the ArgentineIsraeli Mutual Association in Buenos Aires
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Worst act of terror in
Argentina’s history
Killed 85, injured over 300
Van filled with ammonium
nitrate explosives drove
through the front gates of the
AIMA building
Hezbollah is believed to be
responsible under directives
from Iran
In Lebanon a group called
Ansar Allah claimed
responsibility for the attack
Case has been plagued by
corruption and lack of a
proper investigation including
cover ups
Tri-Border Activity: Argentina,
Paraguay, Brazil
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Seen as a haven for
terrorist activity
Almost all terrorist activity
that has taken place in
South America went
through here
Groups: Al-Qaeda,
Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad
This area is believed to be
funding terrorist
organizations
Paraguay is especially
dangerous as it has no
particular laws on terrorist
groups or funding terror
Tri-Border Activity (cont’d)
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March 22-23, 2000: A former Iranian intelligence officer testifies at the Argentine
Embassy in Mexico and accuses former Argentine president, Carlos Menem, of
accepting a bribe of $10 million to conceal Iran’s implications in the AMIA bombing in
1994.
April 2001: CIA says that al-Qaeda allegedly plans two attacks against U.S.
embassies in Quito, Ecuador, and Montevideo, Uruguay. The attacks have not taken
place to date.
September 19-20: Former Brazilian drug czar Walter Maierovitch alleges that
Osama bin Laden is setting up an al-Qaeda cell in the tri-border region.
April 18, 2002: Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage speaks to the House
Appropriations Foreign Operations Subcommittee stating that the U.S. government
suspects that al-Qaeda and Hezbollah are operating near Ecuador’s borders with
Colombia and Peru.
May 21, 2002: The U.S. Department of State annual report on terrorism indicates
that intelligence and security organizations have not detected the presence of alQai’da, but have found groups linked to Hizballah and the Hamas in the tri-border
area.
May 24, 2002: Cairo’s Al-Qanat newspaper alleges that the U.S. Army has formed a
special commando unit to attack Hezbollah facilities in the region.
Late 2001-2002: Using information uncovered in Afghanistan, U.S. intelligence
identifies a group of Middle Eastern men in South America suspected of having ties to
Osama bin Laden.
Margarita Island
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No Jimmy Buffet
Has a big Arab and Muslim
community
Has been cited by the U.S
State Department as a
possible terrorist base
It is a free trade zone so
flow of money can happen
very easily
Could be facilitating illegal
drug/weapon sales
Has received a lot of
attention in Washington
because of the tension
between Bush and Chavez
Radical Islam in Latin America
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A lot of investigations recently
have cited Iran as a major
contributor
Argentina’s Jewish pop:
200’000 and also has a strong
relationship with Israel
This has made it a target for
major terrorist acts
Hezbollah seen as a big
contributor under Iran’s
directive
Al-Qaeda has been seen as
secondary to Hezbollah’s
presence
Paraguay’s lawlessness
toward terrorism could prove
to be a major problem in the
future
References
Radical Islam in Latin America
http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articlei
d=2369844
 Understanding Islam and Its’ Impact on Latin America
 https://research.maxwell.af.mil/papers/ay2004/affellows/C
onnell.pdf
 Latin America: Terrorism Issues
 http://leahy.senate.gov/issues/foreign%20policy/PDFS/Lati
nAmericaTerrorism.pdf
 Islamist Terrorist Threat in the Tri-Border Region
 http://www.nti.org/e_research/e3_16a.html
 CNN.com: South America's 'tri-border' back on
terrorism radar November 8, 2002
 http://archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/americas/11
/07/terror.triborder/
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Questions?