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How to Handle Hizbullah in Latin America
(Christian Science Monitor) Emanuele Ottolenghi - For nearly four decades, Hizbullah has relied on local Lebanese expatriate communities to establish networks across Latin America. These networks have bought political influence among local elites, built alliances with organized crime, and offered financial services to both. As a result, today Latin America is a key center for Hizbullah's sophisticated global financial network. The U.S. should disrupt Hizbullah's Latin American sources of revenue by targeting its operatives and their businesses with a sustained sanctions campaign. It should strengthen the Drug Enforcement Administration's efforts to try Hizbullah operatives involved in drug trafficking, and it should punish local elites who facilitate Hizbullah's continuing presence in the region. The writer is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.