The Hezbollah threat: much more than a terrorist group

For years, stability in the Middle East has relied on an actor that has undergone a gradual evolution by changing its appearance. Hezbollah began as a terrorist organisation threatening a region that has expanded over time, but has always focused on Lebanon, especially in the south of the country. For years it has sought to "formalise" the view of them, acquiring great weight in Lebanese politics, even entering parliament, having ministers in the government and even imposing presidents. However, their activity far from the media spotlight has not changed in the slightest. Its terrorist activity, supported by its large network of recruitment and indoctrination, and its financing through drug trafficking mean that not only does it remain dangerous, but it is a much greater threat to be taken into account than it was before. 

Hezbollah's intention to cease to be considered a terrorist organisation has never been realised, as it has never ceased to be one. "It is a terrorist organisation and should qualify as such", said Danilo Gelman, director of security and crisis management and counterterrorism programmes at the Latin American Jewish Congress at the event entitled 'Hezbollah: from terrorist actor to hybrid actor' organised by IDITESDE (Institute for the Development of Intelligence in the field of Terrorism, Security and Defence) and presented by Javier Martín Domínguez, journalist and communications consultant for several companies. Gelman considers that the basis of their power in the Lebanese region is based on the enormous network of indoctrination that they have been nurturing for years and which, in his opinion, the Lebanese government has long allowed. 

The key content of the presentation was to analyse how Hezbollah has evolved from a terrorist organisation into a hybrid actor, an increasingly complex and dangerous actor: "Hezbollah has not replaced its terrorist activity with legitimate political activity. It is combining the two, and that makes them much more dangerous", Danilo Gelman said of the organisation. One of the strengths that make this increase in Hezbollah's power possible is its drug trafficking network, from which it obtains most of its income. 

Emilio Sánchez Rojas, a retired artillery colonel, gave some clues as to how Hezbollah's financing network is distributed, based on his extensive experience in the field, having met personally with members of the terrorist organisation. "It is a narco-terrorist organisation", said the colonel, who explained how Hezbollah based its drug trafficking network on cocaine and heroin, in addition to the production and distribution of hashish. Thanks to the immense amount of money they obtain, they make possible one of the hallmarks of the organisation, namely their complex intelligence network. 

Many of their resources, as well as being focused on very advanced and high-quality weaponry, are used to feed their intelligence network. According to Raúl A. González, a retired Marine Corps officer, "they have a very elaborate intelligence system". Moreover, a large part of their work focuses on recruiting a large number of young people, winning over the population by supporting Lebanese society, helping refugees from Palestine... Because, as the military man said, "propaganda is a determining factor in the way they act". They carry out extensive recruitment campaigns that start from the power they have thanks to the support of high-ranking Lebanese government officials. 

But Hezbollah's ranks have an added element that makes them even more dangerous. According to sources, they have among their ranks people from other militias, whose number of participants is said to exceed 80,000 on Syrian territory. Although "there are factors that may deny that Hezbollah is a terrorist organisation, because of its origin, it is one", argued Colonel Sánchez Rojas. He added that the organisation's widespread hatred of Jews makes it a "neo-Nazi organisation". Hezbollah is a very dangerous threat, not only for the region, but for the world, since, as the colonel said, its threat is even more serious because it is "the state within the state".