The Latin American Ouroboros : Jihadist Absence or Merger with Organised Crime?

"Despite the need to control these routes with the implementation of measures in line with the threat, Latin American intelligence agencies are not dedicated to studying jihadist terrorism in depth". 

The United States, Europe, Russia, New Zealand, Africa, the Middle East, Thailand, Canada... In recent years it has become clear that jihadism has spread from one end of the planet to the other, but the fact that this is not the case in Latin America is striking to say the least. 

In a continent where 95 per cent of the population belongs to the Catholic religion and constitutes two thirds of the world's population, Christianity is the fundamental pillar of its traditional culture. However, despite this predominance derived from colonisation, it had its first ups and downs at the beginning of the 20th century. In this web of new tendencies, Islam began to find gaps through which it could gain access to Latin American society.

The historical and cultural tradition that has shaped the peoples of the American continent provides the Muslim religion with several opportunities. Firstly, the dual historical identity of the indigenous peoples, who have indigenous, European and African traditions. In short, taking into account the long history of Islam in the Iberian Peninsula during the 8th-15th centuries, it reaffirms its role as an "indirect or second-degree participant in the shaping of Latin American identity".  In addition to the slaves from Africa, who despite being mostly animists, remained attached to their religious roots.

The difficult social conditions prevailing in the countries of South and Central America led to the emergence of identity crises and the search for divine solutions to their earthly problems, with Islam being the religion best suited to these characteristics.

On the political side, the advance of Marxism in various Latin countries, with its innate anti-US sentiment, has been postulated in parallel with jihad. A simile can be drawn between the two: the fight against infidels is not necessarily against "non-Muslims", but rather against the attackers of Islam, with various paths uniting at a common point: US imperialism. 

Given the rise of the Latin American left in recent years, there can be no doubt about the possible relationship with Hezbollah and the creation of branches on American soil. The problem posed, as in the Venezuelan case, centres on the existence of a certain or absolute permissibility in the commission of attacks by the "Venezuelan Hezbollah", given this ideological coincidence and coincidence of interests. Or in the Argentine case, being directly related to the so-called Bolivarian Revolution. 

Despite the intrinsic differences, we find commonalities such as a mixture of progressivism, Bolivarian revolution, indigenism, anti-Americanism, anti-Zionism and reaffirmation of the armed struggle. In short, the existence of grey zones can be exploited both by this organisation and by one of its main supporters, Iran. 

Finally, economic opportunities, with the predominance of drug trafficking and organised crime coming to the fore. Special attention should be paid to the Brazil-Argentina-Paraguay tri-border area, characterised by scarce state control and high permeability; failed states such as Haiti, as well as certain areas in Colombia, Chile and Venezuela, where terrorist financing is easy.  

We can only understand this phenomenon as a hybrid threat that intermingles ideological aims, both political and religious, with others of a criminal and lucrative nature, in this case smuggling, money laundering, arms and drug trafficking, and even false documentation to facilitate the international movements of the foreing fighters. 

Currently, the majority of Muslims living in Latin America are immigrants from Islamic countries, with only 10% being of indigenous origin.  The predominant nationality is Lebanese, the country of origin of the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah (note the country's relations with several Latin American governments).

However, due to economic difficulties in the south and centre of the continent, immigrant levels have decreased, and thus the number of Muslim populations. Nevertheless, intelligence reports show the existence of 'Latin jihadists' from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Trinidad and Tobago and Mexico, as well as money flows to the Middle East, ranging from $60 million to $1 billion a year. 

Latin America is not new as a place of asylum for terrorism, having been chosen by members of ETA or by the Nazis themselves. After analysing the data provided above, it is not surprising that Trinidad and Tobago has established itself as the Western country with the highest number of jihadists per capita, thanks to its socio-economic situation and high criminality.

In short, the high level of corruption in state security agencies and high criminality in all Latin American countries is well known. This area can be considered a key arena for the financing of terrorist organisations, and the dreaded synergy between organised crime and terrorism can occur. "Despite the need to control these routes with the implementation of measures in line with the threat, Latin American intelligence agencies are not dedicated to the in-depth study of jihadist terrorism". 
 

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