What do Brazil and Peru’s terror trials portend?

In Brazil eight men from an Islamic State aligned group Defenders of Sharia will stand trial this year for racketeering and conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism. Seven of the eight will also be tried for the corruption of minors. Three other men involved with the group have not been charged, but remain in prison.

These eleven men formed the Defenders of Sharia in the lead-up to the Rio 2016 Olympics and were planning to conduct terrorist attacks during the games. The police arrested the suspected terrorists before they could put their plans into motions and sent them to a maximum-security prison in the south of the country.

The authorities said that only two of the suspects met in person; most communication was conducted via WhatsApp and Telegram apps, both popular with Islamic State supporters. The closest the group actually got to carrying out an attack was one of the suspects attempting to purchase an AK-47 rifle.

The indictment made possible by Brazil’s new anti-terrorism law, passed in April of 2016, which created an enforceable definition of terrorism and guarantees stiff penalties for engaging, financing, or aiding in terrorist activities.

On the other side of the continent Peru will be conducting a terror trial of its own. In Lima the trial Hezbollah operative Mohammed Hamdar is set to take place this year. When police arrested Hamdar in 2014 he had traces of nitroglycerin (chemical used in explosives) on his hand and photographs of Peruvian landmarks and building. The authorities suspect that Hamdar was searching for targets to conduct terrorist attack on.

The Brazilian and Peruvian cases show that major Islamic terrorist organizations are active on the continent. A report by the Spanish Defense Ministry indicates that both the Iranian-backed Shia terror group Hezbollah as well as IS operate freely in Latin America.

The Shite terrorist group has developed a terror network on the continent with other groups such as IS and Hamas also operating in the region. Hezbollah operatives work with the Venezuelan government and drug carters to launder money and obtain money for the organization. Although the Islamic State does not have government connections like Hezbollah, it might be working with drug cartels and be profiting from the drug trade.

So far their activities have been able to go unchecked because Latin American countries due to a lack of strong anti-terror laws, but a conviction in the Brazilian and Peruvian cases may redefine the continent’s approach to terrorism.

Convicting Hamdar would establish in Peruvian court that he and Hezbollah were engaged in a criminal enterprise. This would provide ammunition for the authorities to unravel the terror network the organization has in the country.

The trial may also impact the ongoing investigation of Hezbollah’s involvement in the AMIA bombing in Argentina and the death of the prosecutor investigating the case, Alberto Nisman. Nisman was shot dead right before he was to present evidence exposing then-President Cristina Kirchner’s attempt to work with Iran to cover up Hezbollah’s role in the bombing.

Hezbollah has been active through Latin America. So any operations the group might have in Peru could be connected with its activities in Argentina. By shinning a light on Hezbollah in Peru Argentina may find out more about the group’s network on its own territory.

Peru’s efforts to criminalize Hezbollah could have an impact on its neighbors, particularly since the effort against jihadists also provides in roads against the the drug trade, of which Hezbollah is deeply involved.

A conviction in Brazil could hurt IS attempts to set up cells on the continent and show that people can be convicted under the country’s anti-terror law. A successful conviction might push other South American states to build up their own framework of anti-terror laws, which has been lacking.

The terror trials that will be underway in Brazil and Peru might motivate states in the region to fight Islamic terrorism. By criminalizing the activities of Hezbollah and IS the two countries may start a process to dismantle the networks both terrorist organizations have built-up in the continent.