By Edelmiro Franco V. | 2025-05-01

BOGOTA -- Reports of some 400 Hizbullah leaders fleeing Lebanon and relocating to South America are reviving fears of terrorist attacks reminiscent of those that struck Argentina and Panama in the 1990s.

According to a mid-April report on the Saudi Al-Hadath channel, which cited a source at the Argentine embassy in Lebanon, most of Hizbullah's field commanders have recently left the country with their families, settling in Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia and Brazil.

The report, first picked up by the Times of Israel and other media on April 16, has raised regional security concerns, analysts told Entorno, though the development itself is "not surprising."

The Tri-Border Area -- where Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay converge -- and Venezuela have long been identified as key hubs for Hizbullah's operations in Latin America, including links to drug trafficking networks.

Alberto Jabiles, a Peruvian national living in Panama and a graduate in education and history from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, organizes an annual memorial to honor the 21 victims of the 1994 bombing of Alas Chiricanas Flight AC 901 -- the deadliest terrorist attack in Panama's history.

The July 19 attack, carried out by a suicide bomber shortly after the flight departed from the city of Colón, killed 12 Jewish businessmen among the passengers. For decades, authorities held no group formally responsible.

But last October 29, the US director of National Intelligence concluded that Hizbullah was behind the bombing.

Jabiles, who directs the Anti-Defamation Commission of B'nai B'rith Panama (CAD), said recent reports of Hizbullah commanders arriving in South America are not surprising but serve as "a renewed alert."

"It's not a new situation -- it's an escalation of one that's existed for more than 30 years," he told Entorno. "This confirms what we've been denouncing for decades: the irregular presence and alliances between Hizbullah and totalitarian regimes in Latin America. It endangers not just the Jewish community but every Latin American citizen."

The Nicolás Maduro regime in Venezuela has long collaborated with groups like Hizbullah, he said.

"There is a strong Shiite Islamic presence in Caracas. It's the gateway," he said, claiming that Venezuelan authorities even issue visas to "elements of dubious reputation," facilitating their movement across the continent.

The source of the report on the alleged arrival of 400 Hizbullah commanders in South America is Al-Hadath, a Saudi-owned outlet with close ties to the Riyadh government, Adis Urieta, a former Panamanian ambassador to Israel, told Entorno.

"Al-Hadath has little sympathy for Hizbullah, which it sees as Iran's proxy in Lebanon," Urieta noted.

While Hizbullah has consistently denied having a presence in South America, Urieta said the group's involvement in past attacks -- such as the 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires and the 1994 bombings of the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires and of Flight AC 901 in Panama -- lends weight to Al-Hadath's reporting and likely puts regional security agencies on alert.

The attack on Flight AC 901 occurred just one day after the car bombing of the AMIA building, which killed 85 people and injured more than 300. Two years earlier, the bombing of the Israeli embassy in the same city left 29 people dead and more than 200 wounded.

Investigators attributed both Argentine explosions to Hizbullah and linked them to financial and logistical support from the Iranian government.

Hizbullah's expanding Latin footprint

The arrival of seasoned Hizbullah commanders in Latin America could heighten the threat of terrorist attacks in the region, particularly against Israeli or US interests and Jewish communities, observers told Entorno.

These leaders may offer advanced training and tactical support to Hizbullah-linked networks long active in South America, while bolstering fundraising and logistical operations. The group is known to finance its activities through drug trafficking, counterfeiting and smuggling.

Hizbullah is effectively turning parts of Latin America into a "mirror" of the Middle East, Ilil Podliszewski-Lavi, president of BE1 Defense Solutions and Technologies Israel, based in El Salvador, warned.

"It is easy for these terrorist organizations to establish themselves there [Latin America]," she told Entorno.

Hizbullah could introduce modern technologies -- including drones and missiles -- into the region, Podliszewski-Lavi cautioned as a specialist in combat, electronic warfare and intelligence. Regional security forces could fall behind, even as terrorist networks grow more sophisticated, she said.

"The presence of Hizbullah in Latin America must be dismantled," she said.