[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 126 (Thursday, October 7, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10691-S10692]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  FIGHTING TERRORISM IN LATIN AMERICA

  Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President, as we contemplate reforms to better equip 
us to prevent and fight terrorism, I hope we will bear in mind the 
importance of the Western Hemisphere. As chairman of the Western 
Hemisphere Subcommittee, I am encouraged by the opportunities we have 
to work cooperatively with our regional neighbors on issues we all can 
benefit from. We have shared interests in promoting democracy, human 
rights, and the rule of law. We are stronger when we stand together as 
a hemisphere against terrorism, money laundering, and the trafficking 
of drugs, weapons, and people. Our greatest asset in the war on terror 
in Latin America and the Caribbean is the fact that we have so many 
willing partners throughout the region who share our values.
  I recently came across an interesting study, written by Michael 
Johnson of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, that discusses the 
threat of international terrorist groups in the Triborder region of 
Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina. I hope my colleagues will read this 
study and reflect upon the importance of addressing terrorism wherever 
it exists around the world.
  I ask unanimous consent that study be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

        U.S. Foreign Policy in South America's Triborder Region


                      A REGION IN NEED OF SECURITY

       Unstable institutions, rampant corruption and a struggling 
     economy made Paraguay appear as an attractive venue for 
     would-be terrorists to base their operations just a few years 
     ago. However, with the newly formed Three Plus One 
     Counterterrorism Dialogue consisting of Argentine, 
     Paraguayan, Brazilian and an American intelligence-gathering 
     team, terrorists seem to have decided to shy away from 
     creating havoc in the region. Though no terrorist initiatives 
     seem to have occurred in the tri-border region of Paraguay, 
     Argentina and Brazil, experts from each of the countries feel 
     that significant amounts of money laundering is taking place 
     in the area--ending up funding terrorist acts in the Middle 
     East. Current U.S. foreign policy in the area, therefore, 
     will play an integral role in cleansing the area of 
     terrorists as well as contain other illicit activities 
     endemic to the region.
       U.S. agencies have been monitoring clandestine activity in 
     Paraguay for a number of years. However, only recently have 
     they begun to increase their physical presence. According to 
     various reports, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has more 
     than doubled the size of its office in Asuncion. However, 
     this does not automatically represent any change in the 
     status quo. In the wake of terrorist strikes in the U.S., 
     Paraguay's recent history of allegedly serving as a staging 
     ground for militant Islamic groups such as Hezbollah and the 
     Islamic Jihad certainly is drawing closer scrutiny.
       On September 21, 2003, foreign ministers from the 
     Organization of American States (OAS) nations met to discuss 
     terrorism-related hemispheric security concerns. Portions of 
     the talks dealt with the Southern Cone countries' long-
     standing belief that Paraguay has shown little concern in 
     addressing the terrorist elements operating within its 
     borders. Evidence shows that the U.S. has stepped up pressure 
     on the tri-border countries to clean up the area and 
     eliminate ``rogue elements.'' Hopefully, such an increase in 
     the U.S. presence will yield all the returns that the 
     Pentagon anticipates.


              U.S. FOREIGN POLICY IN THE TRI-BORDER REGION

       President Bush's call to sustain the war ``until every 
     terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and 
     defeated'' explains U.S. authorities' increase in the 
     monitoring of developments in the tri-border area. For their 
     part, tri-border countries have indicated that they intend to 
     fully cooperate in helping the U.S. eliminate any terrorist 
     threats in the region. Although Brazil and Argentina have 
     increased their border security, Paraguay has perhaps assumed 
     the strongest position in support of U.S. anti-terrorism 
     efforts by asking the OAS to firmly support any U.S.-led 
     retaliation.
       Nevertheless, rhetoric and strong anti-terrorism stances by 
     these nations fail to quell fears about the potential 
     terrorist threat posed by illicit forces in the region. 
     Paraguay's Foreign Minister, Jose Antonio Moreno, stated that 
     40 FBI agents arrived in Paraguay and were headed to Ciudad 
     del Este, a ``transit point for shadowy groups.'' The 
     inevitability of U.S. involvement in the area was reflected 
     in statements made by the State Department and the former 
     director of the FBI, Louis J. Freeh. The FBI's concern was 
     rooted in a trip that Freeh took to South America in 1998 to 
     assess security concerns. At the time, Freeh called for a 
     multinational crackdown on crime, something he saw as an 
     important step to establishing a hemispheric police alliance. 
     He called the tri-border region ``a free zone for significant 
     criminal activity, including people who are organized to 
     commit acts of terrorism.'' Last April, the State 
     Department warned that the governments of Paraguay, Brazil 
     and Argentina are not capable of preventing Islamic 
     terrorist actions originating from Paraguay's hub of 
     militancy, Ciudad del Este.
       The U.S. has offered its Special Forces to train and advise 
     the Paraguayan military and national police in anti-terrorism 
     and anti-drug tactics to combat the identified groups. U.S. 
     Special Forces took a first step to making their presence 
     felt in Paraguay earlier this year by participating with the 
     country's military in a ``training exercise'' focused on 
     combating drug traffickers. At the time, many thought that 
     this maneuver closely resembled an anti-insurgency operation. 
     Such an approach could signal a change in U.S. military 
     policy in Paraguay, as further training could focus on anti-
     terrorism tactics.


                            9/11 Connection

       Ciudad del Este provides the kind of uncontrolled 
     environment that can sustain criminal organizations--and 
     terrorists. The 1992 Israeli Embassy bombing and the 1994 
     Argentine-Israeli Community Center bombing cast a spotlight 
     on the baleful role being played by some elements of the Arab 
     community in Ciudad del Este that it has since been unable to 
     avoid. Because much of Paraguay's export business is 
     underground, basically based on contrabanding, the situation 
     leaves the Arab community suspect of helping to financially 
     support Arab terrorist groups, although without clear proof 
     is wanting. Although it may be unwise to assume that all 
     black-market contrabandists are terrorists, police 
     authorities believe that the amount of funds being generated 
     by smuggling and money laundering that is being transferred 
     within Paraguay to overseas banks is far more than any 
     presumptive business activity in the country. It raises some 
     suspicions in the minds of local police officials that some 
     in the Arab community are supporting radical terrorism with 
     the spoils of illegal trade.
       Indeed, the U.S. State Department clearly advises that 
     there are individuals and organizations operating in Ciudad 
     de Este and along the tri-border area between Paraguay, 
     Brazil, and Argentina, with ties to extremist groups. 
     Brazilian Judge Walter Fanganiello Maierovitch, former 
     National Drug Enforcement Secretary and now with the Giovanni 
     Falconi Brazilian Criminal Sciences Institute, reports that 
     Osama bin Laden is setting up an al-Qaeda unit near Ciudad 
     del Este under the cover of the Arab community. The U.S. 
     Government cannot confirm an al-Qaeda presence in the tri-
     border area. However, other radical Islamic extremists 
     routinely rely upon illegal activities, such as drug and arms 
     trafficking, to help fund terrorist activities throughout the 
     world.
       To achieve some control, 10 member countries of the OAS 
     Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism (CICTE) 
     participated in exercises in the tri-border area to highlight 
     solidarity against extremist activities. The United States, 
     Argentina, and experts from other countries are providing 
     training to Paraguayan anti-terrorist police and military 
     personnel. The objective is to ``maintain a presence in the 
     area and to be able to raid homes of persons suspected of 
     being involved in financing terrorism or of radicalized 
     members of Islam residing in the tri-border area.''


                Three Plus One Counterterrorism Dialogue

       In 1998, Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay formed the Comando 
     Tripartito--an operational body in which the three countries 
     exchange information and perform work on the ground dealing 
     with specific regional problems. This Tripartite Commission 
     of the Triple Frontier served as a security mechanism, 
     meeting several times a year in each of the member countries. 
     However, due to the sensitive nature of the information 
     exchanged, the data swapped between countries is not 
     available to public scrutiny. In reality, the Comando 
     Tripartito did little more than serve as a nominal 
     organization, doing little to clamp down on money launderers 
     and neutralize drug traffickers in the region.
       Talks began to take on a more serious nature in the post 9/
     11 atmosphere, and the Southern Cone joined the bandwagon of 
     anti-terrorist rhetoric. December of 2002 marked the first 
     3+1 Counterterrorism Dialogue between the tri-border 
     countries and the U.S.

[[Page S10692]]

     According to official State Department records, dialogue 
     between the countries ``serves as a continuing forum for 
     counterterrorism cooperation and prevention among all four 
     countries.'' Argentine Embassy Political Counselor, Jose Luis 
     Sutera, in an interview with COHA asserted, ``The 3 +1 
     Counterterrorism Dialogue, without question, is the chief 
     board of exchanging information. The first meeting in Buenos 
     Aires stemmed from American suspicions that Hezbollah and 
     Hamas groups were harbored in the [tri-border region].'' The 
     next meeting is scheduled to take place in Washington, DC on 
     December 6, 2004.


    ``No Operational Terrorist Organizations, No al-Qaeda Presence''

       In an interview with COHA, Dr. Jorge Brizuela, a high-
     ranking official in the Paraguayan Embassy in Washington, DC, 
     stated, ``Terrorists have not been found in the zone. No 
     information would indicate that terrorist activities exist in 
     the zone--this has been reiterated on various occasions by 
     the corresponding authorities and the necessary steps are 
     being taken so money obtained in the tri-border region is not 
     being sent to Arab countries.'' Though he agrees with 
     Brizuela's assertion that ``al-Qaeda is not in Ciudad del 
     Este,'' Argentina's Sutera recognized that ``suspicions still 
     loom over Arabs who are sending money to terrorist groups in 
     the Middle East.'' Such groups pose as charity organizations 
     that seek to aid socially and economically stricken areas of 
     Iran, while what they do is to donate the newly acquired 
     funds to the terrorist cause of Hamas and Hezbollah.
       The transcript of the 3+1 Counterterrorism Dialogue's 
     December 3, 2003 meeting held in Asuncion emphasized the 
     delegation's stance that ``Although there continued to be 
     reports in 2003 of an al-Qaeda presence in the tri-border 
     area, these reports remained uncorroborated by intelligence 
     and law-enforcement officials.'' Still, those assembled 
     agreed that international terrorist funding and money 
     laundering in the area remained an area of primary concern. 
     Considering the priorities of money launderers and piracy 
     crooks, the 3+1 understandably has organized a Financial 
     Intelligence Organization under the umbrella of the 
     Counterterrorism Dialogue. Last May in Buenos Aires, the four 
     government delegations discussed the threats of banking 
     activities that could lead to funding of terrorist 
     organizations. Sutera has concluded that most of the 
     terrorist-funding organizations had traveled to other parts 
     of South America, though he declined to comment where he 
     believed such groups had gone.


                        argentina's cooperation

       In separate interviews with COHA, Argentine officials like 
     Sutera and Congressional Liaison, Mariano Enrico, both 
     expressed the belief that Argentine authorities had initiated 
     and bolstered Southern Cone efforts to clean up the tri-
     border region. According to a recent State Department 
     document, ``Argentina continues to express strong support for 
     the global war on terrorism and worked closely with the UN, 
     the OAS, MERCOSUR and the U.S. to ensure full implementation 
     of existing agreements.'' In particular, Argentine officials 
     have shown their disposition to freeze assets of alleged 
     terrorist-funding organizations/individuals.
       Among the channels of communication connecting U.S. and 
     Argentine officials is the line between the CIA and SIDE 
     (Intelligence Sector of the Argentine State). Both SIDE and 
     the CIA work in concert with Brazilian and Paraguayan secret 
     service personnel. Another perhaps more crucial element in 
     the war on terrorism in Latin America began as a result of an 
     Argentine initiative; CICTE was organized in 1998 as a multi-
     nation security plan for the region. Since then, Paraguay has 
     cooperated openly with the Argentines. But, Brazil has had 
     some reservations about instigating any anti-terrorism plans 
     without proof of terrorism. However, since 9/11 the Brazilian 
     sector of the CICTE team has offered full support for the 
     organization as information among the three countries has 
     passed with little inhibition.


                         paraguay's cooperation

       Paraguay's role in the war on terrorism has never held a 
     more important role than it does now. Though few terrorists 
     per se have surfaced in the region, rumors of the possibility 
     of some al-Qaeda connections to the region simply will not go 
     away. While President Nicanor Duarte Frutos has determined 
     that there is a domestic problem in Paraguay with fundraising 
     that might support terrorist causes, many State Department 
     officials have concluded that Paraguay's greatest impediment 
     to the prosecution of suspected terrorists is the absence of 
     an anti-terrorist law.


                          brazil's cooperation

       President Luiz Inacio Lula has taken a greater initiative 
     than perhaps has been the case of his predecessors in terms 
     of combating terrorism, especially in the tri-border region. 
     Foz do Iguacu, Brazil's portion of the region, has received 
     considerable scrutiny from the once aloof, but now rather 
     concerned, Lula administration. The Brazilian president has 
     ``vigorously condemned terrorism'' and calls such acts ``the 
     insanity of perpetrators of terrorism.''
       Though Lula's intentions merit praise, his country's 
     shortage of resources and training have hindered its role in 
     acting as a watchdog over the region. In an exclusive 
     interview with COHA, Brazilian Embassy First Secretary of 
     Political Section, Breno Costa, offered an explanation as to 
     why Brazilian officials appear to act lethargically when it 
     comes to terrorist concerns: ``At first it seemed like the 
     U.S. was constantly alleging that the tri-border area 
     harbored criminals and terrorists, yet they never specified 
     where exactly in the region such evidence was forthcoming. So 
     Brazil asked the U.S. for concrete evidence and, of course, 
     not one piece of evidence. Just as the State Department 
     reported last year, no terrorist cells are acting in the 
     region.'' Costa went on to say that once evidence of money 
     laundering was presented to the Brazilian government, 
     officials in Foz do Iguacu began to examine cash flow 
     entering and leaving the city. Overall, Brazil has 
     cooperated considerably with the other three countries 
     involved in the counterterrorism dialogue, having signed 
     all of the 12 UN conventions on terrorism and is a party 
     to nine of them.


                               Conclusion

       Clearly, the effort to prevent terrorism in Latin America 
     has become a more salient issue since 9/11. With cooperation 
     among the Southern Cone countries in conjunction with 
     participation of the U.S., terrorist acts have a lower 
     likelihood of occurring. Still, as the Afghanistan mountains 
     provide a haven for terrorists in the Middle East, Ciudad del 
     Este--if not properly monitored--could evolve as yet another 
     hub for terrorism. Whereas the U.S. has supported and 
     participated in the 3+1 Counterterrorism Dialogue, American 
     leaders merit commendation.

                          ____________________