Editing Hezbollah (section)

===Latin America operations===
{{Main|Hezbollah in Latin America}}
Hezbollah operations in South America began in the late 20th century, centered around the Arab population which had moved there following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and the 1985 Lebanese Civil War.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gato |first1=Pablo |last2=Windrem |first2=Robert |date=9 May 2007 |title=Hezbollah builds a Western base |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna17874369 |work=Telemundo |publisher=NBC News |access-date=17 August 2018 }}</ref> One particular form of alleged activity is [[money laundering]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Talley |first=Ian |date=15 May 2018 |title=Hezbollah Said to Be Laundering Money in South American Tri-Border Region |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/hezbollah-said-to-be-laundering-money-in-south-american-tri-border-region-1526389849 |access-date=17 August 2018}}</ref> The ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' said that the group was more active in the 1990s, especially during the 1992 Israeli embassy bombing in Argentina, though its relevance grew more unclear as time progressed.<ref name="Linthicum-2020">{{Cite web |last=Linthicum |first=Kate |date=2020-01-10 |title=Could Iran – and Hezbollah – strike in Latin America? |url=https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-01-10/the-trump-administration-is-warning-that-hezbollah-could-strike-in-latin-america |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> [[Vox (website)|''Vox'']] writes that following the adoption of the [[Patriot Act]] in 2001, the [[Drug Enforcement Administration]] (DEA) would promote the term of [[narcoterrorism]] and arrest individuals with no prior history of being involved in terrorism, suggesting skepticism towards the reports of large-scale collusion between alleged terrorist groups and cartels.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Beauchamp |first=Zack |date=2016-02-01 |title=The DEA says it just busted a Hezbollah operation laundering money for drug cartels |url=https://www.vox.com/2016/2/1/10891370/hezbollah-cartel-dea |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=[[Vox (website)|Vox]]}}</ref>

In 2002, Hezbollah was reported to be openly operating in [[Ciudad del Este]], Paraguay.<ref>{{cite magazine |last= Goldberg |first=Jeffrey |author-link=Jeffrey Goldberg |date=28 October 2002 |title=In the Party of God |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/10/28/in-the-party-of-god-2 |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=17 August 2018 }}</ref> Beginning in 2008, the DEA began with [[Project Cassandra]] to work against reported Hezbollah activities in regards to Latin American drug trafficking.<ref>{{cite news |last=Meyer |first=Josh |year=2017 |title=The secret backstory of how Obama let Hezbollah off the hook |url=https://www.politico.com/interactives/2017/obama-hezbollah-drug-trafficking-investigation/ |work=Politico |access-date=17 August 2018 }}</ref> The investigation by the DEA reported that Hezbollah made about a billion dollars a year and trafficked thousands of tons of cocaine into the United States.<ref>{{cite news |last=Valencia |first=Robert |date=18 December 2017 |title=Hezbollah Smuggled Tons of Cocaine into the U.S. During Obama Administration, Report Reveals |url=https://www.newsweek.com/hezbollah-cocaine-smuggle-united-states-obama-751928 |work=Newsweek |access-date=17 August 2018 }}</ref> Another destination for cocaine trafficking done by Hezbollah are nations within the [[Gulf Cooperation Council]].<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Hezbollah drug cartels in Latin America target GCC states |url=https://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/Story/25880/Hezbollah-drug-cartels-in-Latin-America-target-GCC-states |work=The Baghdad Post |date=9 April 2018 |access-date=17 August 2018 |archive-date=18 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180818052235/https://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/Story/25880/Hezbollah-drug-cartels-in-Latin-America-target-GCC-states }}</ref> In 2013, Hezbollah was accused of infiltrating South America and having ties with Latin American drug cartels.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/03/world/americas/iran-latin-america |title=Iran, Hezbollah mine Latin America for revenue, recruits, analysts say |publisher=CNN |date=4 June 2013 |access-date=4 June 2013}}</ref>

One area of operations is in the region of the [[Triple Frontier]], where Hezbollah has been alleged to be involved in the trafficking of cocaine; officials with the Lebanese embassy in Paraguay have worked to counter American allegations and extradition attempts.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ottolenghi |first=Emanuele |date=15 August 2018 |title=Lebanon Is Protecting Hezbollah's Cocaine Trade in Latin America |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/06/15/lebanon-is-protecting-hezbollahs-cocaine-and-cash-trade-in-latin-america/ |work=Foreign Policy |access-date=17 August 2018 }}</ref> In 2016, it was alleged that money gained from drug sales was used to purchase weapons in Syria.<ref>{{cite news |last=Brooks-Pollock |first=Tom |date=2 February 2016 |title=Worldwide drug trafficking ring 'links Hezbollah to Latin American cartels' |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/worldwide-drug-trafficking-ring-links-hezbollah-to-latin-american-cartels-a6849141.html |work=Independent |location=United Kingdom |access-date=17 August 2018 }}</ref> In 2018, ''Infobae'' reported that Hezbollah was operating in [[Colombia]] under the name Organization of External Security.<ref>{{cite news |last=Chaya |first=George |date=7 April 2018 |title=Interpol detecta actividades ilícitas de Hezbollah en Colombia |url=https://www.infobae.com/america/colombia/2018/04/07/interpol-detecta-actividades-ilicitas-de-hezbollah-en-colombia/ |work=Infobae |language=es |access-date=17 August 2018 }}</ref> That same year, Argentine police arrested individuals alleged to be connected to Hezbollah's criminal activities within the nation.<ref>{{cite news |last=Diaz |first=Shlomi |date=25 July 2018 |title=Argentine authorities nab terror cell funneling money to Hezbollah |work=Miami Sun-Sentinel |url=http://www.sun-sentinel.com/florida-jewish-journal/fl-jj-argentine-terror-cell-money-hezbollah-20180725-story.html |department=Florida Jewish Journal |access-date=17 August 2018 }}</ref>

The ''Los Angeles Times'' noted in 2020 that at the time, Hezbollah served as a "bogeyman of sorts" and that "[p]undits and politicians in the U.S., particularly those on the [[far right]], have long issued periodic warnings that Hezbollah and other Islamic groups pose a serious threat in Latin America".<ref name="Linthicum-2020" /> Various allegations have been made that [[Cuba]],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gantz |first=Menachem |date=2011-09-01 |title=Report: Hezbollah opens base in Cuba|work=[[Ynet]]|url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4116628,00.html |access-date=2023-10-12}}</ref> [[Nicaragua]]<ref name="Rogers-2012">{{cite web |last=Rogers |first=Tim |date=10 September 2012 |title=What's Behind Nicaragua's Rumored Links to Hezbollah? |url=https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/whats-behind-nicaraguas-rumored-links-hezbollah |website=[[Pulitzer Center]]}}</ref> and [[Venezuela]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Humire |first=Joseph M. |date=2020-10-07 |title=The Maduro-Hezbollah Nexus: How Iran-backed Networks Prop up the Venezuelan Regime |url=https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-research-reports/issue-brief/the-maduro-hezbollah-nexus-how-iran-backed-networks-prop-up-the-venezuelan-regime/ |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=[[Atlantic Council]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Clarke |first=Colin P. |date=2019-02-09 |title=Hezbollah Is in Venezuela to Stay |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/02/09/hezbollah-is-in-venezuela-to-stay/ |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=[[Foreign Policy]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=P |first=Jeferson Guarin |date=2020-12-30 |title=FARC-Hezbollah: The success of Venezuela-Iran proxy groups and their convergence in the Americas |url=https://securityanddefence.pl/FARC-Hezbollah-The-success-of-Venezuela-Iran-proxy-groups-and-their-convergence-in,130934,0,2.html |journal=Security and Defence Quarterly|volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=117–134 |doi=10.35467/sdq/130934 |issn=2300-8741|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Vianna de Azevedo |first=Christian |year=2018 |title=Venezuela's toxic relations with Iran and Hezbollah: an avenue of violence, crime, corruption and terrorism |url=https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/srhreports/violent-extremism/violent-extremism/18/ |journal=[[Florida International University]]}}</ref> aid Hezbollah in its operations in the region.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/hezbollah-south-america-threat-businesses |title=Hezbollah in South America: The Threat to Businesses |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=5 February 2018 |publisher=Stratfor |access-date=17 August 2018 }}</ref> Israeli reports about the presence of Hezbollah in Latin America raised questions amongst Latin American analysts based in the United States<ref name="Rogers-2012" /> while experts say that reports of presence in Latin America are exaggerated.<ref name="Linthicum-2020" />

Southern Pulse director and analyst Samuel Logan said "Geopolitical proximity to Tehran doesn't directly translate into leniency of Hezbollah activity inside your country" in an interview with the [[Pulitzer Center]].<ref name="Rogers-2012" /> William Neuman in his 2022 book ''[[Things Are Never So Bad That They Can't Get Worse]]'' said that claims of Hezbollah's presence in Latin America was "in reality, minimal", writing that the Venezuelan opposition raised such allegations to persuade the United States into believing that the nation faced a threat from Venezuela in an effort to promote foreign intervention.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Neuman |first=William |title=[[Things Are Never So Bad That They Can't Get Worse]] |year=2022 |isbn=9781250266163 |pages=278–279 |publisher=St. Martin's Publishing}}</ref>