Online first
Current issue
All issues
About
Aims and scope
Peer review process
Publication policy & ethics
Editorial Board
Reviewers
Publisher
Guide for authors
Call for papers
Book Reviews
Special Issue: Critical Infrastructure Protection
Special issue: Challenges for the state and international security: The current state and prognosis for the future
Special Issue: Innovations for chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear + explosive - CBRNe defence
RESEARCH PAPER
FARC-Hezbollah: The success of Venezuela-Iran proxy groups and their convergence in the Americas
| 1 | Alumni, George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, Germany |
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Jeferson Guarin P.
Alumni, George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, Gernackerstrasse 2, 82467, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
Alumni, George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, Gernackerstrasse 2, 82467, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
Submission date: 2020-09-14
Final revision date: 2020-11-02
Acceptance date: 2020-11-27
Online publication date: 2020-12-29
Publication date: 2020-12-30
Security and Defence Quarterly 2020;31(4):117–134
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Persistence and adaptation are the main characteristics that have allowed FARC and Hezbollah to become perhaps the most successful proxy groups in recent years. Both Iran and Venezuela have sponsored the military, political and criminal actions of these alleged insurgent organisations. The main objective of this research was to identify and conceptualise the mitotic evolution of FARC and Hezbollah from purely armed organisms into consolidated political organisations in Colombia and Lebanon, and how this evolution has presented a criminal convergence in Venezuela based on drug trafficking and money laundering. This article is based on a comparative case-study of published research papers, documents, and official statements of FARC and Hezbollah, by applying a rational perspective that allows their performance to be deduced. The research results showed a constant mutation of these hybrid threats. Thus, not only was the political and military success of these organisations established but also the strategic support of a criminal dimension which converged in Venezuela, where the FARC drug trafficking and Hezbollah money laundering were amalgamated. Consequently, the investigation exposes the possible consequences of the FARC-Hezbollah criminal convergence in the Americas and its destabilising effects in the next decade.
REFERENCES (47)
1.
Aguilera, M. (2016) Tomas y ataques guerrilleros (1965-2013). Bogota: Centro Nacional de Memoria Histórica. Available at: https://centrodememoriahistori... (Accessed: 10 July 2020).
2.
AJC and International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (2019) Setting the Record Straight on Hezbollah, Available at: https://www.ajc.org/news/setti... (Accessed: 10 July 2020).
3.
Ali Kooshki, S., Shirkhani, A. and Kiani, D. (2020) ‘Investigation into Hezbollah’s role in the political structure of Lebanon 2006-2018’, International Journal of Social Science Research and Review, 3(1), pp. 27–40. doi: 10.47814/ijssrr.v3i1.33.
4.
Arkin, W. (2007) Divining victory: airpower in the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. Maxwell Air Force Base: Air University Press. Available at: https://www.airuniversity.af.e... (Accessed: 7 July 2020).
5.
Avon, D., Khatchadourian, A.-T. and Todd, J. M. (2012a) ‘Open Letter’, in Hezbollah: A History of the ‘Party of God’. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, pp. 103–129. doi: 10.4159/harvard.9780674067523.c8.
6.
Avon, D., Khatchadourian, A.-T. and Todd, J. M. (2012b) Political Charter, Hezbollah: A History of the ‘Party of God’. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press (A History of the ‘Party of God’), pp. 130–162. doi: 10.4159/harvard.9780674067523.c9.
7.
Badran, T. and Ottolenghi, E. (2020) ‘Hezbollah Finance in Lebanon: A Primary-Source Review’, The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). Available at: https://www.fdd.org/wp-content... (Accessed: 30 September 2020).
8.
BBC News (2011) ‘Hezbollah and allies topple Lebanese unity government’, 12 January. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world... (Accessed: 3 August 2020).
9.
BBC News (2018) ‘Lebanon election: Hezbollah leader declares “victory”’, 7 May. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world... (Accessed: 1 August 2020).
10.
Berman, I. and Humire, J. (2014) Iran’s Strategic Penetration of Latin America. London: Lexington Books.
11.
Collard, R. (2020) ‘A Verdict That Pleases No One in Lebanon’, Foreign Policy, 18 August 2020. Available at: https://foreignpolicy.com/2020... (Accessed: 21 August 2020).
12.
DeVore, M. R. (2012) ‘Exploring the Iran-Hezbollah Relationship: A Case Study of how State Sponsorship affects Terrorist Group Decision-Making’, Perspectives on Terrorism, 6(4/5), pp. 85–107. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/26... (Accessed 13 July 2020).
13.
Gabrielsen, I. (2014) ‘The evolution of Hezbollah’s strategy and military performance, 1982-2006’, Small Wars & Insurgencies, 25(2), pp. 257–283. doi: 10.1080/09592318.2014.903636.
14.
Gill, S. (2019) ‘Starting at the bottom: former FARC guerrillas book first election victories’, Colombia Reports, 29 October. Available at: https://colombiareports.com/st... (Accessed 10 July 2020).
15.
Harding, E. (1992) Colombia: Chronology Of Political Violence & Related Events, March 24 – April 20. Available at: https://digitalrepository.unm.... (Accessed 13 July 2020).
16.
Hernández, J. (2013) ‘Terrorism, Drug Trafficking, and the Globalization of Supply’, Perspectives on Terrorism, 7(4), pp. 41–61. Available at: http://www.terrorismanalysts.c... (Accessed 14 July 2020).
17.
International Crisis Group (2009) Ending Colombia’s FARC Conflict: Dealing the Right Card. Available at: https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/... (Accessed 14 July 2020).
18.
Karmon, E. (2009) ‘Iran and its Proxy Hezbollah: Strategic Penetration in Latin America’, Elcano Newsletter. Available at: http://www.realinstitutoelcano... (Accessed 14 July 2020).
20.
Levitt, M. (2013) Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon’s Party of God. Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press.
21.
Levitt, M. (2016) ‘Iranian and Hezbollah Operations in South America: Then and Now’, PRISM, 5(4), pp. 118–133. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2... (Accessed 15 July 2020).
22.
Levitt, M. (2018) ‘Hezbollah’s Criminal and Terrorist Operations in Europe’, AJC Global Jewish Advocacy. Available at: https://www.ajc.org/news/hezbo... (Accessed 15 July 2020).
23.
Levitt, M. (2020) ‘Lebanese Hezbollah Select Worldwide Activity Interactive Map and Timeline’, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Available at: https://www.washingtoninstitut... (Accessed: 30 July 2020).
24.
Moyar, M., Pagan, H. and Griego, W. R. (2014) Persistent Engagement in Colombia. Tampa: The JSOU Press. Available at: https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/cita... (Accessed: 22 July 2020).
25.
Neumann, V. (2011) ‘The new nexus of narcoterrorism: hezbollah and venezuela’, Foreign Policy Research Institute, December. Available at: https://www.fpri.org/docs/medi... (Accessed: 9 July 2020).
26.
Nilsson, M. (2020) ‘Hezbollah and the framing of resistance’, Third World Quarterly, 41(9), pp. 1595–1614. doi: 10.1080/01436597.2020.1779587.
27.
Norton, R. (2014) Hezbollah: A Short History. Third Ed. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. doi: 10.1515/9781400851447-007.
28.
Perdue, J. B. (2014) ‘Chapter 2. A Marriage of Radical Ideologies’, in Humire, J. M. and Ilan B. (eds.) Iran’s Strategic Penetration of Latin America. Lanham: Lexington Books, pp. 11–20.
29.
Pollak, N. (2016) ‘The Transformation of Hezbollah by Its Involvement in Syria’, Research Notes. Available at: https://www.washingtoninstitut... (Accessed: 28 July 2020).
30.
Priest, D. (2013) ‘Covert action in Colombia’, The Washington Post. Available at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/... (Accessed: 14 July 2020).
31.
Rabasa, A., Schnaubelt, C. M., Chalk, P., Farah, D., Midgette, G., and Shatz, H. J. (2017) Counternetwork: Countering the Expansion of Transnational Criminal Networks. Santa Monica: RAND Corporation. doi: 10.7249/rr1481.
32.
Rabasa, A. and Chalk, P. (2001) Colombian Labyrinth The Synergy of Drugs and Insurgency and Its Implications for Regional Stability, Santa Monica: RAND Corporation. Available at: https://www.rand.org/pubs/mono... (Accessed: 20 July 2020).
33.
Realuyo, C. (2014) ‘The Terror-Crime Nexus: Hezbollah’s Global Facilitators’, PRISM, 5(1), pp. 116–131. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2... (Accessed 15 July 2020).
34.
Reuters (2017) ‘Colombia to provide some initial funding for rebels’ political party’, Reuters World News, 6 June. Available at: https://fr.reuters.com/article... (Accessed: 17 July 2020).
35.
Rubenstein, C. (2009) Submission to the Australian Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security on its Review of the Re-listing of Hezbollah’s External Security Organisation under the Criminal Code Act 1995. Canberra: Australian Parliament House. Available at: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliam... (Accessed: 10 July 2020).
36.
Santiago, A. (2017) An Examination of the Nature of Hezbollah’s Evolving Presence in Latin America. Harvard University. Available at: http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:H... (Accessed: 9 July 2020).
37.
Spencer, D. (2016) ‘A Long War’, in Davis, D., Kilcullen, D., Mills, G., and Spencer, D. E. (eds.) A Great Perhaps? Colombia: Conflict and Convergence. London: Hurst & Company, pp. 17–45.
38.
The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) (2017) ‘Venezuela: A State Destroyed by Crime and Corruption’, in Kingpins and corruption: Targeting transnational organized crime in the Americas. Washington D.C.: The American Enterprise Institute (AEI), pp. 18–25. Available at: www.jstor.org/stable/resrep032... (Accessed: 9 July 2020).
39.
The Economist (2015) ‘The flow and ebb of violence’. Available at: https://www.economist.com/spec... (Accessed: 19 July 2020).
40.
The Economist (2016) ‘Colombia’s peace. A chance to clean up’. Available at: https://www.economist.com/brie... (Accessed: 23 July 2020).
41.
Treaster, J. (1985) ‘Death toll at 100 after rebel siege in Colombian city’, The New York Times, 9 November. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1985/1... (Accessed: 4 July 2020).
42.
U.S. Attorney (2020) United States v. Nicolas Maduro Moros, Case No. 1:11-CR-205: Superseding Indictment. United States of America: U.S. Department of Justice. Available at: https://www.justice.gov/opa/do... (Accessed: 5 July 2020).
43.
U.S. Department of Justice (2020) ‘Nicolás Maduro Moros and 14 Current and Former Venezuelan Officials Charged with Narco-Terrorism, Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Criminal Charges’, Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs, 26 March. Available at: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr... (Accessed: 15 July 2020).
44.
U.S. Department of the Treasury (2017) ‘Treasury Sanctions Prominent Venezuelan Drug Trafficker Tareck El Aissami and His Primary Frontman Samark Lopez Bello’, U.S. Department of the Treasury Press Center, 13 February. Available at: https://www.treasury.gov/press... (Accessed: 25 July 2020).
45.
U.S. ICE (2019) ‘Former vice president of Venezuela Tareck El Aissami and Venezuelan businessman Samark Lopez Bello added to ICE’s Most Wanted List for international narcotics trafficking, money laundering’, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s, 14 August. Available at: https://www.ice.gov/news/relea... (Accessed: 25 July 2020).
46.
Vuković, J., Matika, D. and Barić, S. (2016) ‘Hybrid warfare challenges’, Security and Defence Quarterly, 12(3), pp. 118–138. doi: https://doi.org/10.35467/sdq/1....
47.
Worth, R. and Bakri, N. (2008) ‘Hezbollah Seizes Swath of Beirut From U.S.-Backed Lebanon Government’, The New York Times, 10 May. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2008/0... (Accessed:13 July 2020).
CITATIONS (1):
1.
Introduction to the Special Issue ‘Proxy forces in modern warfare’
Cyprian Kozera, Cüneyt Gürer
Security and Defence Quarterly
Cyprian Kozera, Cüneyt Gürer
Security and Defence Quarterly
We process personal data collected when visiting the website. The function of obtaining information about users and their behavior is carried out by voluntarily entered information in forms and saving cookies in end devices. Data, including cookies, are used to provide services, improve the user experience and to analyze the traffic in accordance with the Privacy policy. Data are also collected and processed by Google Analytics tool (more).
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.