In the past year, and especially following the Gaza War, these efforts have accelerated. Iranian and Hezbollah terrorist cells have been exposed across the globe—from Greece and the Nordic countries to Germany and Australia—aiming to attack Israelis and Jews.

Latin America, which suffered devastating bombings in Buenos Aires in the 1990s, has once again become a target for attacks on Israelis and Jews. In the past year, Iranian and Hezbollah networks were uncovered in Peru and Brazil, including a plot to assassinate Israel's ambassador in Brasília.

It remains unclear how Iran attempted to carry out the attack in Mexico, but past experience suggests it likely relied on proxies—probably local criminals—to obscure its direct involvement. Ironically, that very method may have contributed to exposing the plot.

Why Latin America?

Beyond the region's relative ease of operation, where local security forces are preoccupied with drugs and immigration, Latin America offers Iran favorable conditions through its sizable Shiite communities in Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia. Venezuela, under the ideologically aligned regime of Nicolás Maduro, serves as Iran's operational hub on the continent and as a logistical backbone for its activities.

The past year, however, has been particularly challenging for Iran's influence in the region. Tehran traditionally cultivates ties with leftist governments opposed to US influence—such as Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Chile, Colombia, and Brazil. Despite ideological differences, Iran eagerly cooperates with anyone willing to counter Washington. Yet recent political shifts, such as the right-wing victory in Bolivia, a country once very close to Iran, have weakened Tehran's foothold. A potential military confrontation between the US and Venezuela could also bring an end to Iran's strategic "base" on the Caribbean coast.

The Trump administration's campaign against the Maduro regime has further compounded Tehran's difficulties. Maduro remains Iran's most important ally in the region, and without him, Tehran would lose its ability to threaten the US in its own backyard.

The attempted assassination in Mexico only proves Iran's global reach and determination to use the continent as a platform for terrorist operations. Israel should leverage this exposure into a diplomatic campaign to alert Latin American nations, and the international community at large, to the danger posed by Iran. Despite this latest revelation, as long as Iran's "open account" with Israel remains unsettled, another attempt is only a matter of time.

Moreover, the case illustrates the urgent need to dismantle Iran's enabling infrastructure in Latin America: its Spanish-language propaganda channel HispanTV; its influence over the appointment of imams in Shiite communities; and academic institutions such as Al-Mustafa International University, which serve as tools of indoctrination. The so-called religious centers attached to Iranian embassies are in fact hubs of espionage and terror. A concerted effort to confront this "soft power," combined with political change in the region and the eventual fall of the Maduro regime, could deliver a serious blow to Iran's presence in Latin America.

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Israeli travelers in South America are facing a dangerous new threat as pro-Palestinian social media accounts have launched a targeted campaign to identify and label them as "war criminals." Young Israelis who traveled to Latin America after their military service have discovered videos of themselves being shared online with harmful accusations, even though many never served in the Gaza conflict.

The video, which garnered 90,000 views, turned the Israelis featured in it into targets. The absurdity is that some of them didn't even serve in the reserves during Operation Iron Swords. The original video was filmed at a Chabad House in one of the capital cities in South America (exact locations cannot be specified for security concerns).

"After seeing the video for the first time, I thought it was just a small clip," says Yair (pseudonym), one of the young people appearing in it. "It had maybe 1,500 likes, and I didn't give it much importance. But after a few days, when the video continued to circulate and appear, I realized the problem was bigger. It became a tool for hatred against Israelis. I wasn't in Gaza, I didn't serve in the reserves, and yet I found myself accused of war crimes."

Security officials, whom the Israelis contacted, explained that there isn't much to do besides reporting the Instagram accounts spreading the video. "They told us that's the only way to deal with the distribution," the young man recounts.

Mexico should take legal action like Brazil did

This Israeli soldier is currently on a tourist trip in Mexico and has participated in the genocide in Gaza and South Lebanon.

Someone should contact the Hind Rajab organization @HindRFoundation pic.twitter.com/4NMlfC45fG

— Ryan Rozbiani (@RyanRozbiani) January 5, 2025

The young Israelis are now careful to maintain a low profile. "I simply don't post anything, my account (Instagram) is private," says the young man. "The concern is that your name will spread, and the consequences could be severe. There's the thought sitting in your head of a video on hate pages with 90,000 views floating around the internet."

National Security Council's guidelines for travelers to South America:

Stay alert: Avoid conspicuous behavior that might draw unnecessary attention, and stay updated on the security situation in the country you're visiting.

Regular communication: It's recommended to maintain contact with family members and friends in Israel, and update them about your location and stay forecasts.

Avoid dangerous areas: Stay away from areas with high presence of terror supporters or known security threats.

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A prehistoric "highway" used by dinosaurs to travel between Africa and South America has been discovered by paleontologists, according to new research reported by CNN.

The study, published by the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science, reveals that matching sets of dinosaur footprints found on both continents indicate a shared migration route that existed approximately 120 million years ago, before the two landmasses split apart.

Louis L. Jacobs, a paleontologist at Southern Methodist University in Texas and lead author of the study, explained the significance of the discovery. "One of the youngest and narrowest geological connections between Africa and South America was the elbow of northeastern Brazil nestled against what is now the coast of Cameroon along the Gulf of Guinea," Jacobs said. "The two continents were continuous along that narrow stretch, so that animals on either side of that connection could potentially move across it."

Researchers have identified over 260 dinosaur footprints from the Early Cretaceous Period in Brazil and Cameroon, now separated by more than 3,700 miles across the Atlantic Ocean. The majority of these fossilized prints were created by three-toed theropod dinosaurs, with a few likely belonging to sauropods or ornithischians, according to study coauthor Diana P. Vineyard, a research associate at SMU.

The footprints were preserved in mud and silt along ancient rivers and lakes that existed on the supercontinent Gondwana. As Africa and South America began to separate about 140 million years ago, the rifting process created ideal conditions for preserving these prehistoric traces.

A team of paleontologists found matching dinosaur footprints on what are now two different continents, separated by thousands of miles of ocean.

https://t.co/DgbJhJsUXj

— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 26, 2024

 "Plants fed the herbivores and supported a food chain," Jacobs explained. "Muddy sediments left by the rivers and lakes contain dinosaur footprints, including those of meat-eaters, documenting that these river valleys could provide specific avenues for life to travel across the continents 120 million years ago."

The study authors found evidence of half-graben basins – elongated depressions formed by tectonic activity – in northeast Brazil's Borborema region and the Koum Basin in northern Cameroon. These basins contained not only dinosaur tracks but also ancient river and lake sediments and fossilized pollen, painting a picture of a lush, tropical environment.

While it's challenging to identify specific dinosaur species from footprints alone, the tracks provide valuable insights into dinosaur behavior and movement patterns. "Dinosaur tracks are not rare, but unlike the bones usually found, footprints are the proof of dinosaur behavior, how they walked, ran or otherwise, who they walked with, what environment they walked through, what direction they were going, and where they were when they were doing it," Jacobs noted.

The discovery of this prehistoric migration route sheds light on how continental drift influenced the evolution and distribution of dinosaur species. As the continents separated, the break in genetic continuity likely drove evolutionary changes among previously connected populations.

The research builds on decades of work, including initial discoveries of dinosaur tracks in Cameroon in the late 1980s. Jacobs and his colleague, Ismar de Souza Carvalho, a professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, have been studying dinosaur movements from the African and Brazilian perspectives, respectively.

"We wanted to put new and evolving geological and paleontological evidence together to tell a story more specifically of where and why and when dispersals between the continents happened," Jacobs said, highlighting the collaborative nature of the research.

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The announcement comes after Paraguay announced last September that it was moving its embassy in Israel out of Jerusalem and back to Tel Aviv, just months after a previous Paraguayan administration had opened the new mission.

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Israel responded by shutting its embassy in Paraguay and warning that ties between the countries would be "strained" by the decision. Its new ambassador to Paraguay will work from neighboring Argentina.

Israel had hoped to build on the momentum started by the US, Guatemala, and Paraguay, which all moved their embassies to Jerusalem in May 2018.

The government of Paraguay announced on Monday that it has designated Hezbollah and Hamas as terrorist organizations in a move that was praised by Israeli officials.

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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.

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At the same time, Maduro is being supported by international pariahs such as Russia, Cuba as well as Iran and its terror proxy Hezbollah, leading some to fear the once prosperous South American country could turn into the next Syria and serve as a hub for international terrorism.

"Venezuela has opened its doors to Iran and Hezbollah, giving them full access to Latin America," Emanuele Ottolenghi, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies said.

"Venezuela is their forward operating base in the Western Hemisphere. Iran and Hezbollah run many of their overt and covert activities from there. Preserving this relationship is paramount for their interests."

This alliance comes as U.S. President Trump has sanctioned the Venezuelan government in an effort to help Guaidó come to power peacefully.

"Venezuela allies itself with a group of nations that the Trump administration is actively pressuring, including Russia, Iran and Cuba. Venezuela's connections to Iran were well-known under the leadership of Maduro's mentor, Hugo Chávez, who often met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad," Ari Cicural, a policy analyst with the JINSA Gemunder Center for Defense and Strategy, said.

'One of the world's largest drug-trafficking operations'

Indeed, Maduro and Chávez have had a long history of ties with Iran and its terror proxies. Chávez used to meet regularly with former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who infamously threatened to wipe Israel off the map. More recently, a report by The New York Times highlighted how close Maduro confidante Tareck El Aissami, who was indicted in the U.S. in March on drug-trafficking charges, played a crucial role in assisting Iran and Hezbollah in their operations in Latin America.

The report cited a confidential dossier by Venezuelan intelligence agents documenting El Aissami's activities, provided to the Times by a former top Venezuelan intelligence official and confirmed independently by another.

The United States sanctioned El Aissami in February 2017.

"Alongside Ghazi Atef Nassereddine, who is also under U.S. sanctions and wanted by the FBI, El Aissami has been an important facilitator for Hezbollah inside the Venezuelan regime," said Ottolenghi. "Thanks to him, numerous operatives have likely acquired citizenship and entry into the country and, by way of that, they are now free to travel across the region visa-free."

Born in Venezuela to a Lebanese mother and Syrian Druze father, El Aissami has deep family connections to Baathist party members in Syria and formerly in Iraq, as his great-uncle was close to former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. El Aissami's father was an early supporter of Chávez, backing him in his 1992 coup d'êtat attempt.

According to the Times, "El Aissami and his family have helped sneak Hezbollah militants into the country, gone into business with a drug lord and shielded 140 tons of chemicals believed to be used for cocaine production –helping make him a rich man as his country has spiraled into disarray."

The New York Times reported that "informants told intelligence agents that Mr. El Aissami's father was involved in a plan to train Hezbollah members in Venezuela, 'with the aim of expanding intelligence networks throughout Latin America and at the same time working in drug trafficking,'" as El Aissami had the authority to issue residency permits, including to members of the terrorist group, thereby allowing them to remain in the country.

While the dossier does not mention whether Hezbollah established a network in the country, the Politico magazine in December 2017 exposed Hezbollah's money-laundering network and involvement in other crimes, as well as its operations in the South American country. Under Trump's predecessor U.S. President Barak Obama, Washington reportedly turned a blind eye to these activities in order to reach the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.

"Hezbollah has long operated one of the world's largest drug-trafficking operations, including in Venezuela. As a senior member of the Venezuelan government linked to the drug trade and other illicit activities in Latin America and the Middle East, it is not surprising that recent reports have alleged Tareck El Aissami has aided Hezbollah militants" in entering Venezuela, Cicurel said.

With U.S. sanctions having a significant impact on Hezbollah's funding from Iran, the drug trade remains an important source of income for the terror group.

"Venezuela is a key transit point for cocaine, and Hezbollah has an important network of supportive businesses in Venezuela, many with connections to Colombia, Panama and the Dutch Antilles, which are then used to money-launder drug revenues," said Ottolenghi.

"Given that, supporting Maduro is critical," he added. "If Hezbollah and Iran were to lose Venezuela, many of their ongoing ops in Latin America would suffer. It wouldn't be a mortal blow, but definitely a serious one."

While Iran and Hezbollah's track record of taking advantage of failed states such as Syria, Iraq and Yemen have only proven to exacerbate the instability in those places, it remains unclear whether or not Venezuela will become a launching ground for terrorism, according to Jonathan Ruhe, associate director of the JINSA Gemunder Center for Defense and Strategy.

"Currently, there are two more pressing concerns raised by Venezuela's close ties with Iran and Hezbollah. First, that Hezbollah uses Venezuela to increase narcotrafficking revenues at a time when sanctions are crimping Iranian largesse; and second, that Russia uses its leverage over Caracas to secure a real political and military foothold in Venezuela," he told JNS.

"This foothold would be smaller than what it has in Syria, but it would give Moscow both undue influence over one of the world's largest oil players and a dangerous perch along the approaches to the Panama Canal, as well as threatening neighboring U.S.-allied Colombia – a country that has stabilized itself over the exact same period as Venezuela has descended into chaos, but whose remarkable gains are now held at risk by potential spillover from Venezuela."

'There's no direct anti-Semitism in Venezuela'

Aside from narcoterrorism, Iran and Hezbollah have had a history of targeting Israeli and Jewish interests in South America, as in the 1994 AMIA Jewish center bombing in Argentina that killed 85. Later, in 2015, Argentinian Jewish federal prosecutor Alberto Nisman was found dead hours before he was due to appear in Congress to present evidence that then-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner plotted to whitewash Iran's involvement in the bombing.

"Iran's and Hezbollah's networks in Latin America are not based in one country," explained Ottolenghi. "The most recent public instances of Hezbollah operatives seeking to carry out attacks in Latin America and the U.S. involved two U.S.-based Lebanese nationals who became U.S. citizens. Iran's and Hezbollah's cells operate with impunity in the tri-border area of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay."

It remains unclear whether the presence of Iran and Hezbollah in South America would constitute a threat to Venezuela's once vibrant Jewish community, which following years of emigration from the country, now numbers in the thousands.

"What we have heard from government officials in the U.S. and others in Latin America that we have spoken to, they know that money laundering is prevalent, they know because they are involved in drug trafficking and other criminal activities. But nobody has been able to confirm that there are active cells that could carry out terror attacks," Dina Siegel Vann, director of Latin American Affairs for the American Jewish Committee, said.

While the Jewish community was targeted by Chávez in the past, according to Siegal Vann, "There's no direct anti-Semitism in Venezuela presently as the Maduro regime is interested in surviving. They cannot be strategic in that sense. They are not in that type of mindset."

Nevertheless, Maduro has promoted hateful anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and allegations of Jewish or "Zionist" plots to take over the government. Interim President Guaidó has been repeatedly accused of being an agent of "Zionists" or the United States.

"The Jewish community has dwindled and has continued to dwindle," Siegel Vann affirmed. "The Jewish community, like the rest of the country, is suffering."

This article is reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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