The Israeli embassy in Montevideo recently warned Uruguay on the growing strength and influence of Hezbollah in South America, the Argentine outlet Infobae reported on Tuesday.
Igal Ekdesman, Deputy Head of Mission at the Israeli Embassy, explained during a local event that the Iranian proxy terror group is working “hand in hand” with organized crime and extended an offer to help draft legislation establishing a list of organizations that must be “fought.”
The event was jointly organized by the Uruguayan Center for Development Studies and the American and European Union embassies in Montevideo. The Israeli diplomat detailed that, in general, authorities and cities of a country tend to believe that they will not be targeted by terrorist activity — a concept that, he warned, is mistaken.
“We say, ‘Nothing is going to happen here,’ but in recent years we have seen things happen around the world, and we can no longer ignore it and say that it won’t happen here,” Ekdesman said during the event.
The diplomat further detailed that Hezbollah is one of the “largest terrorist and organized crime organizations in the world” and has strengthened its presence in the region, working with organized crime gangs in Argentina, Brasil, and Paraguay, specially in the fields of cocaine and other drug trafficking and money laundering.
Ekdesman stressed that Hezbollah is seeking new sources of income after Israel’s actions against the Shiite jihadist organization group “drastically” reduced its financing.
“What does that have to do with Uruguay? It’s a very important issue that will have a significant impact on South America because the financial cutbacks in the Middle East will affect South American countries. Today, Hezbollah needs to work more closely with South American organized crime organizations to obtain financing,” he explained, referring to the link with Uruguay.
For years, it has been long believed that Hezbollah has an active presence in the Tri-Border area shared by Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil. Since 2024, the administration of Argentine President Javier Milei has taken extensive efforts to counter Hezbollah’s presence in the shared frontier. Argentina was the target of two deadly attacks committed by Iran through its proxy Hezbollah against Jewish targets in the 1990s: the 1994 bombing of the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) and the 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires..
In September, the United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) released a report denouncing that Hezbollah turned the tri-border area into a “haven” for illicit activity as a result of weak state institutions, endemic corruption, and “porous borders,” which in turn allow the terror group to operate in the area with near impunity. SOUTHCOM warned at the time that the area not just provides Hezbollah with a steady revenue stream, but also with a “secure base for planning future attacks.”
“Hezbollah has entrenched itself in this lawless frontier, constructing a vast financial network that fuels its global operations. Exploiting weak institutions and rampant corruption, the group launders the profits of its illicit drug trade with impunity, alongside counterfeiting, crypto mining, and a web of other criminal enterprises—all in service of its broader campaign for global influence,” the report read.
Infobae reported that Uruguay has not designated Hezbollah a terrorist group, unlike Argentina, Paraguay, the United States, and Israel. In September, a bill was introduced in the Uruguayan Parliament calling for the creation of a national list of terrorist entities. Uruguayan Senator Andrés Ojeda reportedly said at the time that if the bill passed, Hezbollah and Hamas would be at the top of the list.
“Today, Uruguay basically replicates the UN list. The Security Council is deeply compromised by its membership: countries such as Russia and Iran do not allow entities such as Hamas or Hezbollah to be included,” Ojeda said in September.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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