The Islamic Connection

There may be a further item in the Colombian equation which could compound the concerns of U.S. strategists involved in Plan Colombia—the involvement of militant Islamic cells based in Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. With farc having declared both U.S. military personnel and the civilian contractors supporting them as legitimate military targets, the prospect of farc aligning with Hezbollah is strong. Hezbollah provides farc with logistics support in connecting their Colombian-based activities through bordering Brazil, via Paraguay to Argentina.

The well-respected think tank Stratfor Systems recently mused, “The threat posed to the U.S. embassies in South America could come from Hezbollah or the farc or both…. If this is the case, it could lead to a dramatic increase in the breadth, intensity and depth of U.S. involvement in Colombia’s long-running civil war” (www.stratfor.com, April 6).