![]() ![]() Ahmad-Nia was implicated in the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Argentina, which preceded the larger attack on AMIA. Nevertheless, Iranian intelligence continue operating in the country via a civil attaché and a “fixer” for regional logistical problems named Jaffar Saadat Ahmad-Nia during the early 1990s. Some years later, Einaki was expelled for his involvement in political activities incompatible with the role he had declared upon entering the country. ![]() 6Īccording to the late Argentine prosecutor of the AMIA case, Alberto Nisman, Iran’s intelligence apparatus sent operative Mohammad Tabataei Einaki to Brazil’s capital, Brasilia, in 1984. That attack was, in part, supported by radical Islamist elements in Brazil and the Triple Frontier, or Tri-Border Area (TBA) where Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil meet. ![]() The most prominent manifestation of this growing regional presence was the 1994 bombing of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA) Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, Argentina. As one prominent former Brazilian official has described it: "Without anyone noticing, a generation of Islamic extremists is emerging in Brazil." 5 Its stealthy presence provides its members with the ability to move freely within Brazil and to continue their attempts to unify and radicalize other Muslim populations throughout the country. It consists of radical clergymen, terrorists, influence peddlers and money laundering “fixers” who use the country as a logistics hub for other regional operations, which stretch from the Southern Cone to the Andes. Since the mid-1980s, an Islamist movement has been steadily growing within Brazil. Such an action previously required a judicial order, but it remains dependent on the approval of the Executive. The new bill updates and tightens rules to combat criminals and companies involved in money laundering and terrorist financing, including a provision to block assets of those who are investigated or accused of terrorism. 3 On March 8, 2019, newly-elected president Jair Bolsonaro formally approved law 13.810, which makes Brazil compliant with sanctions against people who are investigated or accused of terrorism, as required by the United Nations Security Council. 2In May of 2017, the Brazilian Federal Court convicted eight Brazilians of terrorist activity in the country’s first legal sentence of its kind. ![]() The attack targeted the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in what would have been the worst Islamic terrorist attack in Latin America in the last twenty years. Just four months after the anti-terror law was passed, the Brazilian Federal Police foiled a major terrorist plot by IS affiliate Ansar al-Khilafah. The law gave the government legal authority to surveil, apprehend, and arrest members of Islamist terrorist organizations. Recently, however, there has been a rise in Islamic State (IS) followers and sympathizers within the country.Ĭonsidered an important logistical center and recognized "safe haven" by extremist groups, Brazil enacted its first piece of national anti-terrorism legislation in March 2016. Iran and Hezbollah have historically propagated these networks in Brazil. Unfortunately, however, a radical element is forming within the country’s larger Muslim population, fueled by ties to Middle Eastern Islamist terror networks. With antecedents going back some 500 years to Brazil’s founding, Islam is accepted within society, and many successful Muslim entrepreneurs have assimilated into Brazilian culture. 1 A growing portion of this population is made up of converts, as dawa (Islamic proselytization activities) is in full effect in most major cities. It has the largest Islamic community in the region, which numbers around one million. The Federative Republic of Brazil is Latin America's largest and most populous country. ![]()
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