Nazis in Argentina
Following the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, Argentine President Juan Perón helped establish escape routes, or “rat lines,” for former members of the Third Reich to escape to South America. Argentina harbored up to 5,000 former Nazis––the most of any South American country––including Adolph Eichmann, who masterminded the network of Nazi extermination camps, and Gerhard Bohne, who was in charge of Hitler’s euthanasia program and subsequently worked as a technician in the Argentine military. Though some former Nazis disguised their identities and were later extradited and prosecuted, others evaded capture and lived openly under their real names, sometimes receiving support from Argentine authorities. The Patagonian town of Bariloche became a haven for former Nazis to associate with each other and live under their true identities. (Sources: History, History, Mirror)
Urban Guerrilla Movements, 1955-1975
Following then-President Juan Perón’s exile from Argentina in 1955, Peronism, which has been described by the New York Times as “a sort of right-wing socialism,” continued to draw support from both ends of the political spectrum. The ultra-nationalist urban guerrilla Nationalist Revolutionary Tacuara Movement (Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionaria Tacuara, MNRT) emerged in 1962 and was linked to the more conservative elements of the Peronist movement. The MNRT was strongly anti-Semitic and launched attacks against Jewish targets in Buenos Aires until it was ultimately dismantled in the mid-1960s. On the other extreme, the Peronist Armed Forces (Fuerzas Armadas Peronistas, FAP) emerged later that decade as a left-wing Peronist urban guerrilla group, launching attacks on foreign-owned companies in Buenos Aires. The FAP preceded a major left-wing urban guerrilla group called the Montoneros, a Marxist-Peronist group that harassed the government for the return of Juan Perón. Although Perón returned to Argentina and resumed the post of president in 1973, he died only a year later and was replaced by his third wife, Isabel Perón. The pro-Marxist Montoneros resumed their violent activities against her government, which became increasingly right-wing. As of 1975, the Montoneros was estimated to have 1,500 militants and 15,000 supporters. The group carried out kidnappings, bombings, and assassinations of business managers and political figures, including assassinations of the police chief of Buenos Aires and U.S. Consul John Egan. (Sources: New York Times, Página/12, Clarín, Argentina’s Partisan Past: Nationalism and the Politics of History, Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortium, CIA, New York Times, New York Times)
Another major left-wing guerrilla group, the People’s Revolutionary Army (Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo, ERP) emerged in July 1970 as the military arm of the Revolutionary Workers Party, a Marxist-Leninist political party. The ERP, which was inspired by the ideology of Ché Guevara, was not affiliated with Peronism and identified the Argentine military as its principal enemy. As of 1975, the group was estimated to have about 500-700 members. It conducted several kidnappings and assassinations of business executives and military officials, as well as commando raids on towns and military garrisons. At the same time, the group also aimed to win public favor by distributing stolen goods such as food, milk, and children’s toys to the poor. (Sources: CIA, New York Times)
Right-Wing Extremism and the Dirty War
Right-wing extremism rose in response to the the activities of these radical left-wing groups. On June 20, 1973, right-wing Peronists opened fire on a crowd awaiting the return of Juan Perón from exile at the Ezeiza International Airport near Buenos Aires, killing at least 13 people and injuring approximately 380 more. A radical right-wing death squad, the Argentine Anti-Communist Alliance (AAA), emerged between 1973 and 1975. It was established by José Lopez Rega, the then-Argentine Minister for Social Welfare, and aimed to cleanse the Peronist movement of leftists. With the support of the police and many government figures, the AAA carried out several bombings and assassinations of several prominent liberal figures, including singers, actors, writers, professors, and politicians––many of whom had no links at all to the radical leftist groups. The activities of the AAA marked the start of Argentina’s “Dirty War”––a period of state oppression directed at political dissidents and socialists. (Sources: La Nación, Clarín, CIA, BBC News, New Yorker, El País)
On February 5, 1975, the Argentine military launched an operation called Operativo Independencia (Operation Independence) in Argentina’s Tucumán province.
On February 5, 1975, the Argentine military launched an operation called Operativo Independencia (Operation Independence) in Argentina’s Tucumán province. Argentina’s then-President Isabel Perón stated that its objective was to “neutralize and/or annihilate” the “subversive elements” there––meaning the ERP and the Montoneros. In the subsequent year, the military kidnapped, tortured, and murdered hundreds of individuals––including both guerrillas and civilians. (Sources: Página/12, La Nación)
On March 25, 1976, a military junta led by Army Commander General Jorge Videla launched a U.S.-backed coup d’état that expelled President Isabel Perón from office, largely in response to the growing unrest perpetrated by left-wing guerrilla groups and the AAA. Individuals accused of opposing the military regime––as well as their families, including women and children––were subjected to gruesome torture methods and executed at 400 detention centers throughout the country. Approximately 30,000 individuals permanently disappeared––almost certainly at the hands of the state––between 1976 and the eventual collapse of the dictatorship in 1983. Argentina returned to civilian rule in 1983 after elections were held, though several amnesty laws were passed that granted protection to the military regime’s leaders for several years afterward. Argentina’s Congress finally voted to repeal the amnesty laws in 2003, and several of the regime’s leaders have since been prosecuted for crimes against humanity. (Sources: Guardian, Guardian, New York Times, El Español, Telegraph, BBC News)
Tri-Border Area
The Tri-Border Area (TBA) of South America—the area that straddles the borders of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay—is considered by law enforcement to be a concentrated area of criminal and terrorist activity. In 1998, then-director of the FBI Louis Freeh referred to the TBA as a “free zone for significant criminal activity, including people who are organized to commit acts of terrorism.” In a July 2003 report updated in 2010, the Library of Congress stated that Islamist groups operating in the TBA included Hezbollah, al-Qaeda, and Hamas. Such groups fundraise in the region through narcotics and arms trafficking and money laundering schemes––often with the help of organized crime groups. According to Mario Agustín Sapriza, Paraguay’s former Vice Minister of the Interior, the region serves as a base for extremist groups to obtain supplies and plan their actions before launching attacks in other countries. Several Islamic extremist sleeper cells also operate in the TBA. (Sources: NBC News, Library of Congress)
Hezbollah
Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated and Iranian-backed Lebanese terrorist group, has reportedly operated out of the TBA since the mid-1980s, from where it has operated sleeper cells, conducting fundraising activities, and plotted attacks––including two deadly suicide bombings on Jewish targets in Buenos Aires in the 1990s. The group has reportedly drawn “hundreds of millions of dollars”–– a significant portion of its overall income––from its illicit activities in the region, which it conducts in collaboration with organized crime and mafia organizations. Hezbollah also receives financial support from fundraising networks throughout Argentina, which has a large Lebanese expatriate population. According to intelligence reports, Hezbollah’s activities in the TBA have been supported by both the Iranian and Lebanese governments––though the latter is due to Hezbollah’s own influence in Lebanese politics. Intelligence and media reports have also suggested that Hezbollah has cooperated with al-Qaeda in the TBA as part of a broader strategic alliance, despite stark differences in their respective Shiite- and Sunni-oriented ideologies. For example, in 1999, authorities reportedly foiled a plot led by al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Hezbollah leader Imad Mughniyeh to launch simultaneous attacks on Jewish targets in several cities, including Buenos Aires. (Sources: Library of Congress, Ynet)
Hezbollah was responsible for two deadly suicide bombings on Jewish targets in Buenos Aires in the 1990s. On March 17, 1992, a car bomb struck the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 29 people and injuring 242 others. Among the dead were both Israeli embassy personnel and Argentine civilians, including children. The bombing also completely destroyed the embassy building and a nearby church. The Islamic Jihad Organization, a Hezbollah- and Iran-linked group, claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that it was in retaliation for the death of the five-year-old son of Hezbollah leader Abbas Moussawi in an Israeli airstrike earlier that year. On July 18, 1994, a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-packed van in front of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina, AMIA) headquarters in Buenos Aires. The blast, which remains the deadliest terrorist attack in Argentina’s history, killed 85 people and injured more than 300. Both attacks were linked to Hezbollah operatives based in the TBA, Iranian operatives in Argentina, and the Iranian regime itself, which was reportedly motivated in part by Argentina’s decision to suspend all nuclear cooperation with it in 1992 over reports that its nuclear program was not limited to peaceful purposes. (Sources: Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Atlantic, Times of Israel, La Nación, Library of Congress, Telegraph, Times of Israel)
Hezbollah was responsible for two deadly suicide bombings on Jewish targets in Buenos Aires in the 1990s.
Argentina designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization on July 18, 2019, the 25th anniversary of the AMIA bombing. Argentina has charged a number of Hezbollah members for involvement in the two attacks, including Hezbollah leader Imad Mughniyeh, who was suspected of masterminding the 1992 bombing. Mughniyeh, who was ultimately linked to both attacks, evaded capture until he was killed in Syria in 2008. Argentina also issued an arrest warrant for Assad Ahmad Barakat, who served as Hezbollah’s chief of operations and fundraising in the TBA and financed the 1994 AMIA bombing, though he was arrested in Brazil in 2002 and extradited to Paraguay. Barakat was jailed for six years in Paraguay and then released. He was subsequently arrested again in Brazil in 2018 and extradited to Paraguay in July 2020. In 2015, Argentina issued an arrest warrant for Hezbollah member Hussein Mohamad Ibrahim Suleiman, who allegedly brought the explosives used in the 1992 bombing into the country. However, Argentina has so far failed to prosecute anyone for involvement in either attack, and the investigations into both officially remain unresolved. Two Argentine presidents have also been accused of cover-ups related to the 1994 AMIA bombing. In July 2019, the U.S. government sanction-designated Salman Raouf Salman, the Hezbollah operative who allegedly coordinated the AMIA bombing. (Sources: New York Times, Telegraph, Library of Congress, Times of Israel, Reuters, CNN, La Nación, U.S. Department of the Treasury, ABC)
Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman was murdered days after he claimed that he had evidence incriminating then-President Cristina Kirchner for her alleged cover-up of Iran’s role. Kirchner was charged with treason in December 2017. Argentina continues to investigate the AMIA bombing and Nisman’s 2015 death, which was ruled a homicide in 2017. (Sources: Telegraph, Library of Congress, Times of Israel, La Nación, New York Times, Reuters, BBC News, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Hamas
Hamas, a U.S.-designated Palestinian terrorist group, also reportedly operates out of the TBA. According to a report from the Library of Congress, Hamas actively uses the TBA as a “support base” for its operations from where it has operated sleeper cells and plotted attacks. Several Hamas operatives were arrested in connection to a foiled 1999 plot led by Osama bin Laden and Hezbollah leader Imad Mughniyeh to launch simultaneous attacks on Jewish targets in Buenos Aires and several other cities, though they were later released from custody. (Source: Library of Congress)
Al-Qaeda
The global jihadi Salafist network al-Qaeda reportedly also operates out of the TBA, where it reportedly has sleeper cells, plots attacks, and conducts fundraising operations through illicit activities such as drug trafficking. The group’s roots in the region trace back to 1995, when Osama bin Laden and future 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed traveled to the TBA and participated in meetings at local mosques. Argentine intelligence first identified al-Qaeda operatives in the region in mid-1999. Intelligence and media reports have also suggested that al-Qaeda has cooperated with Hezbollah in the TBA as part of a broader strategic alliance, despite stark differences in their respective Sunni- and Shiite-oriented ideologies. For example, in 1999, authorities reportedly foiled a plot led by Osama bin Laden and Hezbollah leader Imad Mughniyeh to launch simultaneous attacks on Jewish targets in several cities, including Buenos Aires. (Source: Library of Congress)
In 2005, Argentine authorities detected the entry into Argentina of 26 individuals linked to the Islamic fundamentalist movement Tablighi Jamaat, which has connections to al-Qaeda. Some were arrested and others were kept under surveillance. In 2016, an Argentine citizen named César Raúl Rodríguez was sentenced to eight years in prison in Spain for allegedly being part of an al-Qaeda cell there, though he denied the accusations against him. (Sources: La Nación, Perfil, Perfil)
ISIS
In 2016, Argentine national security secretary Eugenio Burzacó stated that there was no information to suggest that ISIS had any presence in Argentina. However, ISIS-linked individuals have issued threats toward Argentina and Argentine citizens. In September 2017, the Argentine Army’s website was hacked by ISIS-linked individuals, who posted a message stating, “We are the Islamic State. This is a threat. ISIS is in Argentina and soon you are going to know about us.” ISIS threats have also targeted the world-famous Argentine soccer player Lionel Messi, who was portrayed as an ISIS captive in propaganda images about the 2018 FIFA World Cup produced by a pro-ISIS media agency. (Sources: Perfil, Deutsche Welle, Mirror)
On October 31, 2017, five Argentine citizens were killed and one was injured in an ISIS-inspired lone wolf terror attack carried out in New York City. In the attack, U.S. permanent resident Sayfullo Saipov plowed a rental truck into pedestrians and bicyclists on a bike path, killing a total of eight people and injuring 12 others. Saipov later stated that he had been inspired to carry out the attack by ISIS and its propaganda. ISIS also claimed responsibility for the attack, calling Saipov a “caliphate soldier.” The Argentine victims had been high school friends from Rosario, Argentina, on a reunion trip. In a statement, Argentine president Mauricio Macri said, “They were five young entrepreneurs, model citizens in Rosario society…We all must stand together in the fight against terrorism.” (Sources: CBS News, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington Post, CNN)
Foreign Fighters
According to the Soufan Group, an unofficial estimate of 23 Argentine individuals were reported to have gone to fight with Islamist groups in Syria and Iraq. In 2016, Argentine national security secretary Eugenio Burzacó stated that there had potentially been Argentine citizens present in Iraq and Syria who had trained with ISIS, but denied the possibility of ISIS members present in Argentina. (Sources: Soufan Group, Perfil)
Anarchist Groups
There are a few radical left-wing anarchist groups that operate in Argentina and have carried out attacks in recent years. The U.S. Department of State reported that domestic anarchist groups carried out 12 bombings in the country in 2010. The bombings targeted banks, airline offices, police facilities, and a telecommunications company, and resulted in one death. An anarchist group calling itself the “Eduardo Maria Vazquez Aguirre Anti-Prison Insurgent Cell” claimed responsibility for a November 2011 bombing at a police station in a Buenos Aires suburb that damaged the building but caused no casualties. In its claim of responsibility, the group stated that its aim had been to avenge the deaths of six individuals shot by Buenos Aires Provincial Police officers. Another group called the Nucleus of Conspirators for the Extension of Chaos claimed responsibility for a December 2011 bombing that occurred near the Argentine Ministry of Security that damaged cars and buildings but caused no casualties. Though the group threatened to carry out additional attacks, there have been no reports of its activity since. (Sources: U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of State, Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium, La Nación, Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium, Ámbito Financiero)