DAILY NEWS
Cabinet Approves Capitol Control Law
Yesterday, the Lebanese cabinet approved a modified, draft capitol controls law, which is a pivotal step in reaching an agreement on a debt relief package from the IMF. According to Reuters, “MP Ali Hasan Khalil, a top aide to House Speaker Nabih Berri, said on Monday that Berri was ready to schedule another session to adopt the bill before parliamentary elections on May 15. No such session has yet been scheduled.” [Reuters]
BDL Governor Skips Court Hearing
Lebanese Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh failed to attend the judicial hearing to which he was summoned last week following his corruption charge. The judge presiding over the hearing scheduled a new hearing for June. [Reuters]
Lebanese Banking Control Commission Orders Comprehensive Asset Inventory for All Banks
The Lebanese banking sector’s supervisory authority, the Banking Control Commission, has ordered all of Lebanon’s banks to send the Commission a comprehensive inventory of all real estate assets by May 20th. [L’Orient Today]
OPINION & ANALYSIS
Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Hezbollah in Colombia: Past and Present Modus Operandi and the Need for Greater Scrutiny
Aurora Ortega
Ortega writes, “Research on Hezbollah in Latin America has tended to focus on Venezuela and the Tri-Border Area, covering Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil, but recent events show that less noted countries deserve attention too. In 2014, for example, Peruvian police arrested a Hezbollah operative in Lima’s Surquillo district for planning a terrorist operation, and security services in the region also evidently disrupted a Hezbollah terrorist plot targeting innocent civilians in Chile. In 2017, Bolivian authorities identified a Hezbollah-affiliated warehouse and seized enough explosive precursor material to produce a two-and-a-half-ton bomb. Then, in fall 2021 in Colombia, local reporting indicated that Hezbollah was planning to assassinate an Israeli national as part of a broader operation that also targeted Americans, reportedly to avenge the January 2020 killing of Iran’s Qods Force commander Qasem Soleimani. In this incisive Policy Note, researcher Aurora Ortega demonstrates how enhanced scrutiny of Hezbollah’s commercial ventures could provide insight into the group’s operations and potentially disrupt its infrastructure in the Western Hemisphere. To this end, she highlights the activities of little-known Hezbollah agents in Latin America and outlines opportunities for the United States to interdict them through a mix of law enforcement, sanctions, and diplomacy.”
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the American Task Force on Lebanon, a non-profit, nonpartisan leadership organization of Lebanese-Americans.