Order Code RS21049
Updated January 22, 20079, 2008
Latin America: Terrorism Issues
Mark P. Sullivan
Specialist in Latin American Affairs
Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division
Summary
U.S. attention to terrorism in Latin America intensified in the aftermath of the
September 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, with an increase in
bilateral and regional cooperation. Latin American nations strongly condemned the
attacks, and took action through the Organization of American States (OAS) to
strengthen hemispheric cooperation. OAS members signed an Inter-American
Convention Against Terrorism in 2002. The Senate agreed to the resolution of advice
and consent on the Convention in the 109th Congress and the United States ratified it in
November 2005. In its April 2006 report on global terrorism, the In its April 2007 Country Reports on Terrorism, the
State Department
highlighted threats in Colombia, Peru, and the tri-border area of
Argentina, Brazil, and
Paraguay, but noted that there Paraguay. There were no known operational cells of Islamic
terrorists in
the hemisphere. Cuba has the hemisphere, but pockets of ideological supporters in the region lent
financial, logistical, and moral support to terrorist groups in the Middle East. Cuba has
remained on the State Department’s list of state sponsors of
terrorism since 1982, which
triggers a number of economic sanctions. In May 20062007, for the second year in a row, the
Department of State, pursuant to Arms Export Control Act, addedincluded Venezuela to itson the
annual list of countries not cooperating on antiterrorism efforts, which triggered
prohibitions on the sale or license of defense articles and services to that country. Cuba
also has been on that list for many years. The 110th Congress will likely continue to
monitor potential terrorist threats in Latin America and the region’s cooperation with the
United States on antiterrorism efforts, and will consider the Administration’s FY2008
request for Anti-Terrorism Assistance to the region in Foreign Operations appropriations
legislation. Congress fully funded
the Administration’s FY2008 request for $8.1 million in Anti-Terrorism Assistance for
Western Hemisphere countries in the Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY2008 (P.L.
110-161). In the first session of the 110th Congress, the House approved H.Con.Res.
188, which condemned the 1994 bombing of the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association
in Buenos Aires, and H.Res. 435, which expressed concern over the emerging national
security implications of Iran’s efforts to expand its influence in Latin America, and
emphasized the importance of eliminating Hezbollah’s financial network in the triborder area. The Senate also approved S.Con.Res. 53, which condemned the hostagetaking of three U.S. citizens for over four years by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia, while a similar resolution, H.Con.Res. 260, was introduced in the House.
Terrorism in Latin America: U.S. Concerns
Over the years, the United States has been concerned about threats to Latin American
and Caribbean nations from various terrorist or insurgent groups that have attempted to
influence or overthrow elected governments. Although Latin America has not been the
focal point in the war on terrorism, countries in the region have struggled with domestic
terrorism for decades and international terrorist groups have at times used the region as
a battleground to advance their causes. The State Department’s annual Country Reports
on Terrorism highlights U.S. concerns about terrorist threats around the world, including
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in Latin America. The April 20062007 report notes that the international terrorist threat in the
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Western Hemisphere remained low in 2005 and that, overall, governments in the region
took modest steps to improve their counterterrorism capabilities and tighten border
security. At the same time, the report maintained that corruption, weak government
institutions, ineffective or lacking interagency cooperation, weak or non-existent
legislation, and reluctance to allocate sufficient resources limited the progress of many
countries. The report asserted that terrorism in the region was “primarily perpetrated by
narcoterrorist organizations based in Colombia and by the remnants of radical leftist
Andean groups.” Although the tri-border area (TBA) of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay
has been a regional hub for Hizballah and Hamas fundraising activities, the State
Department report maintains that there is no corroborated information that Islamic
extremist groups have an operational presence in the TBA or elsewhere in Latin America.
The report also examines activity by Cuba, which has been designated by the State
Department as a state sponsor of terrorism since 1982, and asserts that Venezuela has
virtually ceased its cooperation in the global war on terror.
Colombia. Colombia remains of paramount concern to the United States because
of the threat posed by three groups that have been designated by the Secretary of State as
Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs): two leftist guerrilla groups, the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN), and a
rightist paramilitary group, the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). The
Colombian government has made significant progress in regaining control of national
territory, promoting desertion and reintegration of former illegal armed militants, and
demobilizing the AUC. Nevertheless, according to April 2006 terrorism report, the three
groups continued to murder, kidnap, and terrorize Colombians from all walks of life.
Despite the government’s military campaign against it, the FARC continued terrorist and
narcotrafficking activities, which included targeting rural outposts, infrastructure, and
political adversaries. The ELN began talks with the Colombian government in Cuba but
has not yet agreed to begin a formal peace process. The AUC agreed to demobilize its
combatants, and some 23,000 have been demobilized. Although the overall level of AUC
violence decreased, according to the State Department report, cease-fire violations have
included mass killings, kidnappings, assassinations, illegal evictions, robberies, and
impressment of children. In February 2003, a U.S. civilian contractor and a Colombian
national were murdered by the FARC after their plane crashed. The FARC continues to
hold hostage three U.S. contractors from that plane crash. All three Colombian FTOs
reportedly exploit the Venezuelan side of the border with Colombia as a safe area to
transship arms and drugs, rest, secure logistical supplies, and commit kidnappings. The
State Department report indicates that “it is unclear and to what extent the Government
of Venezuela provided material support to Colombian terrorists and at what level.” (For
more on Colombia, see CRS Report RL32250, Colombia: Issues for Congress.)
Peru. The brutal Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso or SL) insurgency, which the
Department of State has designated as an FTO, was significantly weakened in the 1990s
with the capture of its leader Abimael Guzman. According to the State Department
terrorism report, SL has about 200 armed members that receive funding from involvement
in the drug trade. Eleven Peruvian law enforcement officials were killed by SL forces in
2005. The group is also reportedly attempting to rebuild support in the universities where
it had considerable influence in the 1980s.
Tri-Border Area. In recent years, U.S. concerns have increased over activities of
the radical Lebanon-based Islamic group Hizballah (Party of God) and the Sunni Muslim
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Palestinian group Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement) in the tri-border area of
Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, which has a large Muslim population. The TBA has
long been used for arms and drug trafficking, contraband smuggling, document and
currency fraud, money laundering, and the manufacture and movement of pirated goods.
The April 2006 terrorism report maintains that the United States remains concerned that
Hizballah and Hamas were raising funds among the sizable Muslim communities in the
region but stated that there was no corroborated information that these or other Islamic
extremist groups had an operational presence in the area.
Allegations have linked Hizballah to two bombings in Argentina: the 1992 bombing
of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires that killed 30 people and the 1994 bombing of the
Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people. As
noted in the State Department’s April 2006 terrorism report, the AMIA investigation was
plagued with problems, but a new prosecutor has reinvigorated the investigation of the
case. In October 2006, the prosecutor accused Iran of masterminding the attack, and in
November an Argentine judge issued arrest warrants for nine former Iranian officials,
including former President Hasemi Rafsanjani. Some Members of Congress have
expressed concerns that Interpol is not doing enough to assist Argentina in the case.1
Cuba. Since 1982, the Department of State, pursuant to Section 6(j) of the Export
Administration Act of 1979, has included Cuba among its list of states sponsoring
terrorism (the other states are Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria). The Communist
government led by Fidel Castro had a history of supporting revolutionary movements and
governments in Latin America and Africa, but in 1992, Castro said that his country’s
support for insurgents abroad was a thing of the past. Most analysts accept that Cuba’s
policy generally did change, largely because the breakup of the Soviet Union resulted in
the loss of billions in subsidies.
The State Department’s April 2006 terrorism report maintains that Cuba continues
to actively oppose the global war on terrorism and has publicly condemned various U.S.
policies and actions. It also noted that Cuba maintains close relationships with other state
sponsors of terrorism, such as Iran and North Korea, and has provided safe haven for
members of several FTOs. The report maintained that Cuba provides safe haven to
various Basque ETA members from Spain and to members of two Colombian insurgent
groups, the FARC and the ELN, although the report also maintained that there is no
information concerning terrorist activities of these or other organizations in Cuba. The
State Department’s 2002 and 2003 Patterns of Global Terrorism reports acknowledged
that Colombia acquiesced to this arrangement and that Colombia publicly said that it
wanted Cuba’s continued mediation with the ELN in Cuba. The terrorism report also
maintained that Cuba permits U.S. fugitives from justice to live legally in Cuba. Many
are accused of hijacking or committing violent actions in the United States, including
Joanne Chesimard, who is wanted for the murder of a New Jersey State Trooper in 1973.
The State Department report noted that most of the fugitives entered Cuba in the 1970s
and that Cuba has stated that it will no longer provide safe haven to new fugitives who
may enter Cuba.
1
Jerry Seper, “Lawmakers Fault Interpol in Probe of Argentine Blast,” Washington Times, Jan.
14, 2007.
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In general, those who support keeping Cuba on the terrorism list argue that there is
ample evidence that Cubastates that terrorism in the region was primarily
perpetrated by terrorist organizations in Colombia and by the remnants of radical leftist
Andean groups, but maintained that the threat of a major terrorist attack remained low for
most countries in the hemisphere. According to the report, “there were no known
operational cells of Islamic terrorists” in the region, but it maintained that “pockets of
ideological supporters and facilitators in South America and the Caribbean lent financial,
logistical, and moral support to terrorist groups in the Middle East.” The report also
stated that regional governments “took modest steps to improve their counterterrorism
(CT) capabilities and tighten border security” but that progress was limited by
“corruption, weak government institutions, ineffective or lack of interagency cooperation,
weak or non-existent legislation, and reluctance to allocate sufficient resources.” The
report lauded counterterrorism efforts in Panama, Mexico, and El Salvador, and noted that
Caribbean and Central American countries took steps to improve their border controls and
to secure key infrastructure. It also noted that most hemispheric nations had solid
cooperation with the United States on terrorism issues, especially at the operational level,
with excellent intelligence, law enforcement, and legal assistance relations.
Colombia. Colombia has three terrorist groups that have been designated by the
Secretary of State as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs): the leftist Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the leftist National Liberation Army (ELN), and the
rightist paramilitary United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), which is in the
process of demobilizing. According to the terrorism report, these groups have been
weakened as a result of aggressive actions by the military and policy but nevertheless
continued to murder, kidnap, and terrorize Colombians from all walks of life. Despite the
government’s military campaign against it, the FARC continued terrorist and
narcotrafficking activities, which included several bombings against urban military
targets, the targeting of rural outposts, infrastructure, and political adversaries, and
continued kidnappings throughout the country. It has continued to hold three U.S.
hostages since February 2003.The ELN and the Colombian government have held talks
in Cuba, but no agreements have been reached. More than 32,000 AUC members have
demobilized, and the AUC has ceased to function as a formal organization, but AUC
renegades continued to engage in criminal activities, according to the terrorism report.
Both the FARC and the ELN often crossed into Ecuadorian and Venezuelan territory for
rest and resupply, and splinter groups of the FARC and the AUC operated in various parts
of Venezuela and were involved in drug trafficking. The terrorism report lauded
Ecuador’s efforts to maintain control of its border, but with regard to Venezuela, the
report maintained that the government did not systematically police its border with
Colombia. Moreover, according to the report, “it remained unclear to what extent the
Venezuelan government provided material support to Colombian terrorists.”
On December 19, 2007, the Senate approved S.Con.Res. 53 (Nelson, Bill)
condemning the holding of three U.S. citizens by the FARC and calling for their
immediate and unconditional release. A similar resolution, H.Con.Res. 260 (Diaz-Balart,
Mario), was introduced in the House on November 15, 2007.
Peru. The brutal Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso or SL) insurgency, which the
Department of State has designated as an FTO, was significantly weakened in the 1990s
with the capture of its leader Abimael Guzman, who, after a new trial in 2006, was
sentenced to life in prison. According to the State Department terrorism report, SL has
hundreds of armed combatants, and the group is now involved in drug trafficking. The
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SL killed eight civilians and five counternarcotics police in 2006 and reportedly
intimidated voters in parts of Peru during elections last year. The Tupac Amaru
Revolutionary Movement (MRTA), which was decimated after a 1996 hostage action at
the residence of the Japanese Ambassador in Lima, could be trying to reconstitute an
organizational structure. The group also reportedly is attempting to rebuild support in the
universities where it had considerable influence in the 1980s.
Tri-Border Area. In recent years, U.S. concerns have increased over activities of
the radical Lebanon-based Islamic group Hezbollah (Party of God) and the Sunni Muslim
Palestinian group Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement) in the tri-border area (TBA)of
Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, which has a large Muslim population. The TBA has
long been used for arms and drug trafficking, contraband smuggling, document and
currency fraud, money laundering, and the manufacture and movement of pirated goods.
The terrorism report maintains that the United States remains concerned that Hezbollah
and Hamas are raising funds among the sizable Muslim communities in the region but
stated that there was no corroborated information that these or other Islamic extremist
groups had an operational presence in the area.
Allegations have linked Hezbollah to two bombings in Argentina: the 1992 bombing
of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires that killed 30 people and the 1994 bombing of the
Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people. In
November 2006, an Argentine judge issued arrest warrants in the AMIA case for nine
individuals: a Lebanese citizen who is a member of Hezbollah, Imad Mughniyah, and
eight Iranian government officials, including former Iranian President Hashemi
Rafsanjani. Interpol subsequently posted a Red Notice for Mughniyah, and in November
2007, its General Assembly voted to approve notices for five of the Iranians wanted by
Argentina (not including Rafsanjani). The action had been held up since March 2007,
when Iran appealed the decision by Interpol’s Executive Committee to issue the notices.
Congress has continued express concern about progress in Argentina’s investigation
of the 1994 AMIA bombing. H.Con.Res. 188 (Ros-Lehtinen), approved by the House by
voice vote on July 30, 2007, applauded the Argentine government for increasing the pace
of the AMIA investigation, and called upon the General Assembly of Interpol to issue red
notices for five Iranians implicated in the AMIA bombing. Another resolution, H.Res.
435 (Klein), approved November 5, 2007 by voice vote, expressed concern over the
emerging national security implications of Iran’s efforts to expand its influence in Latin
America, and emphasized the importance of eliminating Hezbollah’s financial network
in the tri-border area of South America.
Cuba. Since 1982, the Department of State, pursuant to Section 6(j) of the Export
Administration Act of 1979, has included Cuba among its list of states sponsoring
terrorism (the other states currently on the list are Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria).
The Communist government led by Fidel Castro had a history of supporting revolutionary
movements and governments in Latin America and Africa, but in 1992, Castro said that
his country’s support for insurgents abroad was a thing of the past. Most analysts accept
that Cuba’s policy generally did change, largely because the breakup of the Soviet Union
resulted in the loss of billions in subsidies.
The State Department’s terrorism report maintains that Cuba has “continued to
publicly oppose the U.S.-led Coalition prosecuting the War on Terror.” It also noted that
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Cuba maintains close relationships with other state sponsors of terrorism, such as Iran,
and has provided safe haven for members of several FTOs. The report maintained that
Cuba provides safe haven to various Basque ETA members from Spain and to members
of two Colombian insurgent groups, the FARC and the ELN. Colombia has publicly
acknowledged that it wants Cuba mediation with the ELN. Since December 2005, the
Colombian government and the ELN have held six rounds of exploratory talks in Havana.
The terrorism report also maintained that Cuba permits U.S. fugitives from justice to live
legally in Cuba, with many accused of hijacking or committing violent actions in the
United States. The report noted that Cuba has stated that it will no longer provide safe
haven to new fugitives who may enter the country and cited Cuba’s return of a U.S.
fugitive who had sequestered his son and flew a stolen plane to Cuba in September 2006.
The report did not mention Cuba’s return in late April 2007 of another U.S. fugitive,
Joseph Adjmi, who was convicted of mail fraud in the 1960s. The State Department
report also cited Cuba’s demand that the United States surrender Luis Posada Carriles and
three Cuban Americans that it accused of plotting to kill Castro and bombing a Cuban
airliner in 1976. (Also see CRS Report RL33819, Cuba: Issues for the 110th Congress,
by Mark P. Sullivan.)
Cuba’s retention on the terrorism list has been questioned by some observers. In
general, those who support keeping Cuba on the list argue that there is ample evidence
that the country’s supports terrorism. They point to the government’s history of
supporting terrorist acts and armed insurgencies in Latin America and Africa. They point
to the government’s continued hosting of members of foreign terrorist organizations and
U.S. fugitives from justice. Critics of retaining Cuba on the terrorism list maintain that
it is a holdover of the Cold War. They argue that domestic political considerations keep
Cuba on the terrorism list and maintain that Cuba’s presence on the list diverts U.S.
attention from struggles against serious terrorist threats. (For further information, see
CRS Report RL32251, Cuba and the State Sponsors of Terrorism List, and CRS Report
RL32730, Cuba: Issues for the 109th Congress.)
Venezuela. According to the State Department’s April 2006 terrorism report,
Venezuela has virtually ceased its cooperation in the global war on terror, tolerated
terrorist in its territory, and sought close relations with Cuba and Iran, both state sponsors
of terrorism. As noted above, Colombian terrorist groups use Venezuela territory for
safehaven, although it is unclear whether and to what extent the government of President
Hugo Chávez provides material support to these terrorist groups and at what level.
According to the State Department report, Venezuelan citizenship, identity, and travel
documents are easy to obtain, making the country a potentially attractive way-station for
terrorists. In mid-May 2006, the Department of State, pursuant to Section 40A of the
Arms Export Control Act, prohibited the sale or license of defense article and services to
Venezuela because of its lack of cooperation on antiterrorism efforts. Other countries on
the Section 40A list include Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Syria, not to be confused with
the “state sponsors of terrorism” list under Section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act
of 1979. (For further information, see CRS Report RL32488, Venezuela: Political
Conditions and U.S. Policy.)by Mark P.
Sullivan.)
Venezuela. The terrorism report cited the Secretary of State’s May 2006
determination that Venezuela was not “cooperating fully with United States antiterrorism
efforts” pursuant to Section 40A of the Arms Export Control Act. Subsequently, the
United States imposed an arms embargo on Venezuela on August 17, 2006, which ended
all commercial arms sales and re-transfers to Venezuela. (Other countries on the Section
40A list include Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Syria, not to be confused with the “state
sponsors of terrorism” list under Section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act of 1979.)
According to the terrorism report, President Hugo Chávez continued “public criticism of
U.S. counterterrorism efforts, deepened Venezuelan relationships with Iran and Cuba, and
was unwilling to prevent Venezuelan territory from being used as a safe haven by the
FARC and ELN.” As noted above, however, the State Department maintained that it
remained unclear to what extent the Venezuelan government provided material support
to Colombian terrorists. In addition, according to the terrorism report, Venezuelan
citizenship, identity, and travel documents remained easy to obtain, making the country
a potentially attractive way-station for terrorists. (Also see CRS Report RL32488,
Venezuela: Political Conditions and U.S. Policy, by Mark P. Sullivan.)
Caribbean. In early June 2007, the Department of Justice announced that four
individuals – two Guyanese nationals, one Trinidadian national, and one U.S. citizen of
Guyanese origin – were being charged with conspiring to blow up fuel tanks and a fuel
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pipeline at JFK International Airport in New York. U.S. officials lauded cooperation from
both Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago as instrumental in deterring the plot. Some
analysts contend that plot focuses attention to the potential security threat posed by
Muslim extremists in the Caribbean, while others maintain that there is little evidence to
indicate that Muslims in the region are attracted to radical Islamist ideologies.
U.S. Policy
As in other parts of the world, the United States has assisted Latin American and
Caribbean nations over the years in their struggle against terrorist or insurgent groups
indigenous to the region. For example, in the 1980s, the United States supported the
government of El Salvador with significant economic and military assistance in its
struggle against a leftist guerrilla insurgency. In recent years, the United States has
employed various policy tools to combat terrorism in the Latin America and Caribbean
region, including sanctions, anti-terrorism assistance and training, law enforcement
cooperation, and multilateral cooperation through the OAS. Moreover, given the nexus
between terrorism and drug trafficking, one can argue that assistance aimed at combating
drug trafficking organizations in the region has also been a means of combating terrorism
by cutting off a source of revenue for terrorist organizations. The same argument can be
made regarding efforts to combat money laundering in the region.
Although terrorism was not the main focus of U.S. policy toward the region in recent
years, attention increased in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York and
Washington. Anti-terrorism assistance has increased along with bilateral and regional
cooperation against terrorism. Congress approved the Bush Administration’s request in
2002 to expand the scope of U.S. assistance to Colombia beyond a counternarcotics focus
to also include counter-terrorism assistance to the government in its military efforts
against drug-financed leftist guerrillas and rightist paramilitaries.
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As noted above, the Border security with
Mexico also became a prominent issue in bilateral relations, with attention focused on the
potential transit of terrorists through Mexico to the United States. As noted above, the
United States has imposed sanctions on three groups in
Colombia (ELN, FARC, and
AUC) and one group in Peru (SL) designated by the
Department of State as FTOs.
Official designation of such groups as FTOs triggers a
number of sanctions, including visa
restrictions and the blocking of any funds of these
groups in U.S. financial institutions.
The designation also has the effect of increasing
public awareness about these terrorist
organizations and the concerns that the United
States has about them.
Through the Department of State (Diplomatic Security Office, Office of
Antiterrorism Assistance), the United States provides Anti-Terrorism Assistance (ATA)
training and equipment to Latin American countries to help improve their capabilities in
such areas as airport security management, hostage negotiations, bomb detection and
deactivation, and countering terrorism financing. Such training was expanded to
Argentina in the aftermath of the two bombings in 1992 and 1994. Assistance was also
stepped up in 1997 to Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay in light of increased U.S. concern
over illicit activities in the tri-border area of those countries. ATA funding is generally
provided through the annual foreign operations appropriations measure under the
Nonproliferation, Anti-terrorism, Demining, and Related Programs (NADR) account. For
FY2006, an estimated $12.3 million$8.9 in ATA was provided for the Western Hemisphere,
with $5.3 million for Colombia and $1.5 million for the Bahamas. The FY2007 Western
Hemisphere request was for $11.9 million, with $3.1 million for Colombia, $2.8 million
for Trinidad and Tobago, and $1.4 million for Jamaica while the FY2007
Western Hemisphere request was for $11.9 million. In the Consolidated Appropriations
Act for FY2008 (P.L. 110-161), Congress fully funded the Administration’s FY2008
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request for $8.1 million in ATA for Western Hemisphere countries, and also funded a
$1.4 million request in Terrorist Interdiction Program assistance for the region.
The United States also works closely with the governments of the tri-border region
— Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay — through the “3+1 regional cooperation
mechanism,” which serves as a forum for counterterrorism cooperation and prevention
among all four countries.
Money laundering in the region has been a major U.S. concern for some 20 years,
largely because of its association with drug traffickers, but terrorist organizations may
also be involved in money laundering as a means of hiding their financial assets. The
United States works through the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a multilateral antimoney laundering body, to help develop and promote policies to combat money
laundering worldwide. According to the Department of State’s March 2006 International
Narcotics Control Strategy Report, 16 nations in the region are jurisdictions of primary
concern to the United States because of their vulnerability to money laundering. These
are Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Belize, Brazil, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Costa
Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, St. Kitts and
Nevis, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
Increased Regional Cooperation Since 9/11. Latin American nations
strongly condemned the September 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States and took
action through the OAS and the Rio Treaty to strengthen hemispheric cooperation against
terrorism. The OAS, which happened to be meeting in Peru at the time, swiftly
condemned the attacks, reiterated the need to strengthen hemispheric cooperation to
combat terrorism, and expressed full solidarity with the United States. At a special
session on September 19, 2001, OAS members invoked the 1947 Inter-American Treaty
of Reciprocal Assistance, also known as the Rio Treaty, which obligates signatories to the
treaty to come to one another’s defense in case of outside attack. Another resolution
approved on September 21, 2001, called on Rio Treaty signatories to “use all legally
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available measures to pursue, capture, extradite, and punish those individuals” involved
in the attacks and to “render additional assistance and support to the United States, as
appropriate, to address the September 11 attacks, and also to prevent future terrorist acts.”
In another resolution, the OAS called onthe aftermath of 9/11, OAS members reinvigorated efforts of the Inter-American
Committee on
Terrorism (CICTE) to identify urgent actions aimed at strengthening inter-American
cooperation to combat and eliminate terrorism in the hemisphere. The CICTE was
reinvigorated in the aftermath of 9/11 and
The CICTE has cooperated on border security mechanisms,
controls to prevent terrorist
funding, and law enforcement and counterterrorism
intelligence and information. At a
January 2003 CICTE meeting, OAS members issued
the Declaration of San Salvador,
which condemned terrorism and pledged to strengthen
hemispheric cooperation through
a variety of border, customs, and financial control
measures. At the conference, the United States pledged $1 million to the OAS to help
the growth of CICTE “as a technical body devoted to increasing counterterrorism
expertise in the Americas.”2 At the measures. At the February 2005
CICTE session held in Trinidad and
Tobago, OAS members reaffirmed their commitment
to deepen cooperation against
terrorism and addressed threats to aviation, seaport, and cyber security.
OAS members signed the Inter-American Convention Against Terrorism in June
2002. Signing the treaty for the United States, Secretary of State Powell said that the
OAS had “produced the first new international treaty since September 11 targeted at
improving our ability to combat terrorism.”3 The Convention, among other measures,
improves regional cooperation against
cyber security. CICTE held its seventh annual regular session in Panama from February
28 to March 2, 2007, which focused on the protection of critical infrastructure in the
region.
OAS members signed the Inter-American Convention Against Terrorism in June
2002. The Convention, among other measures, improves regional cooperation against
terrorism, commits parties to sign and ratify U.N.
anti-terrorism instruments and take
actions against the financing of terrorism, and denies
safe haven to suspected terrorists.
President Bush submitted the Convention to the Senate
on November 12, 2002, for its
advice and consent, and the treaty was referred to the
Senate Foreign Relations
Committee (Treaty Doc. 107-18). The committee held a public
hearing on the treaty on June 17, 2004. In the 109th Congress, the committee formally
reported reported
the treaty on July 28, 2005 (Senate Exec. Rept. 109-3), and on October 7, 2005,
the the
Senate agreed to the resolution of advice and consent. The United States deposited
its instruments of ratification for the Convention on November 15, 2005.
Also in the 109th Congress, the House approved H.Con.Res. 338 on June 12, 2006,
which expresses the sense of Congress regarding the activities of Islamic terrorist
organizations in the Western Hemisphere. The resolution “recognizes the potential threat
that sympathizers and financiers of Islamist terrorist organizations that operate in the
Western Hemisphere pose to the United States, our allies, and interests.” The resolution
also encourages the President to direct the U.S. representative to the OAS to seek support
for the creation of a special task force of the CICTE to assist governments in investigating
and combating the proliferation of Islamist terrorist organizations in the region.
2
U.S. Department of State, International Information Programs, “U.S. Donates $1 Million to
Combat Terrorism in Western Hemisphere,” Washington File, January 22, 2003.
3
U.S. Department of State, International Information Programs, “Transcript: Powell Stresses
Security at OAS General Assembly,” Washington File, June 3, 2002. its
instruments of ratification for the Convention on November 15, 2005.