The government of Paraguay announced on Monday that it has designated Hezbollah and Hamas as terror organizations in a move praised by Israeli officials.
Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz lauded President Mario Abdo Benítez's administration for what he described as the "struggle against Iranian-sponsored" terrorism.
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"This decision contributes in the international struggle against Iranian-sponsored Hamas and Hezbollah terror," Katz said.
"I call on other states to join Paraguay and recognize these groups as terrorist organizations. We will continue to work to see that these organizations are recognized as terrorist groups everywhere. The entire world must unite to fight against the terror that Iran and its proxies are spreading."
Meanwhile, Bloomberg news reported Monday that Brazil is currently in talks over a similar move that would see Lebanon's Hezbollah designated a terror group.
Senior officials in Brazilia are looking to advance the idea but reportedly lack support across the board for such a move following concerns over the government's relationship with Iran, a direct patron of the Shiite paramilitary outfit.
Tehran currently imports some $2.5 billion in goods from Brazil a year, which could be significantly impacted by the designation.
Brazilian law also presents numerous difficulties, including not having a standardized definition of terrorism. The country deems as terrorist organizations only those groups labeled as such by the UN Security Council, including al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.
"Brazil's legal definition of terrorism is narrow; foreign and national concepts on this topic tend to clash," legal scholar and expert in anti-terror Brazilian laws Rogerio Sanches Cunha said.
"There can be serious consequences, for example creating friction with Iran and other countries with a relevant number of Shiites, such as Lebanon," he added.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is said to be in favor of the designation as he seeks to align his foreign policy goals with the United States and build stronger ties with the Trump administration.
Paraguay and Argentina are the only Latin American countries to have designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, with the latter holding the group responsible for the bombing of a Jewish community center that killed 85 people in 1994.
This article was originally published by i24NEWS.
