Латинская Америка и проблемы международного терроризма в XXI веке

The relevance of this study is that today the problem of terrorism is one of the most global and relevant in the world. From the hands of terrorists, hundreds of people die every year. In Latin America, this problem is also acute, since the region is not politically stable and challenges serious social problems. On the continent, starting in the middle of the 20th century, many political, territorial, social, ethnic, including racial conflicts took place. All this gave an impetus to the development of forms of extremism, while some groups were involved in terrorist activity. An additional problem point is the presence in some Latin American countries of the diasporas of immigrants from the Middle East, some of which profess Islam (both in Sunni and Shiite forms). According to sources, in Latin America there are representative offices of some Islamic international terrorist organizations such as Al Qaeda; Jihad Media Battalion; Hezbollah; Hamas; Islamic Jihad; Al-Gama’a Al-Islamiyya; Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (at the same time, according to the US authorities, they are associated not only with specific Latin American parties, but also with some governments), which can be a threat not only to the countries of the continent, but also to the whole world.
In total, there are many classifications of the term “terrorism”. However, in my opinion, the clearest definition was given by Evgeny Shcheblyakov, senior lecturer at the Siberian State Aerospace University. According to Shcheblyakov, modern terrorism is a complex, multidimensional and extremely negative socio-legal phenomenon, which, by its scale and development, poses a great threat to the whole world and goes beyond the borders of individual countries. As a result of this, various forums and meetings of heads of state are being held today, at which new and effective ways to counter this problem of the 21st century are discussed. Representatives of special counterterrorism services, law enforcement agencies, members and partners of public organizations and the media are also participants in such events.1
Also, it is worth paying attention to the position of the Organization of the United Nations on the definition of terrorism. On November 12, 2001, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution No. 1377, On Global Efforts to Combat Terrorism. It indicates that international terrorism represents, if not the most, then one of the most global threats to all of humanity in the 21st century. The foundations and principles of this crime are a challenge for every person and every country.
1 Щебляков Е.С. Содержание понятия «терроризм» и необходимость закрепления в законодательстве характерных признаков Терроризма. Современное Право; «Новый Индекс», Москва, 1991, с. 10 [The content of the concept of terrorism and the need to consolidate in the legislation the characteristic features of terrorism. Modern Law; «New Index»]. In Russian.
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Any form of support for terrorists (financing, training), according to the UN Charter, is regarded as participation in this activity and is contrary to the principles of organization.2
In addition to international Islamic terrorist organizations, there are also local ones who resort to terrorist methods in Latin America. One example is Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC). FARC is the left-wing radical rebel extremist group of Colombia that originated in the late 1940s. After the assassination of the leader of the left-wing liberal movement, J.E. Gaitan in 1948, the large-scale “Violencia” began – so, in the history of Latin America, the Civil War was called, during which the National Front was created, and the power was actually divided between the Liberal and Conservative parties. This ruled out even minimal access of the left movement to power, leaving only the possibility of a symbolic presence at the local level, or within local armed underground groups.3 At the time of its inception, it acted as a guerrilla formation, but a little later in the 1980s it developed its activities in the direction of drug trafficking and kidnapping of hostages. The FARC also claimed responsibility for terrorist attacks, city bombings, and the killing of politicians. Some years ago FARC and government signed peace treaty and the guerrilla group is transforming into political party.
The Colombian Combined Self-Defense Forces are Colombian ultra-right paramilitary groups that operated in 1997-2006. They played a significant role in the civil war against left-wing radical forces. They also bear responsibility for numerous terrorist acts. They were accused of having links with crime and the drug business. In 2006, this organization was recognized as terrorist and dissolved. However, over the past few months, traces of their return have been noticed.
The Communist Party of Peru – The Shining Path or “Sendero Luminoso” – is a Peruvian Maoist organization. It was founded in 1970 by Abimael Guzman. After 10 years, on May 17, 1980, it switched to armed guerrilla warfare. It was in that year, when an internal conflict broke out in Peru, the “Shining Path” declared that the goal of their activity is to replace bourgeois democracy with a “new democracy”, and if the dictatorship of the proletariat is formed, it can lead to a cultural revolution, and after a while, even become a world revolution. Even during the Cold War, Sendero Luminoso did not believe that the existing socialist countries built a communist society, — they, according to representatives of this ideology, were revisionist, and only the “Shining Path” was the vanguard of the entire world communist movement. In fact, this organization does not have combat power anymore, since it is almost completely defeated, and only a small part of it remains active.
2 United States Security Council. Declaration on the global effort to combat terrorism. Distr.: General, 12 November 2001. [Электронный ресурс] / Режим доступа:URL: https://undocs.org/en/S/RES/1377(2001). (Accessed 15.05.20).
3 Хейфец В.Л. Наследники «Виоленсии»: эволюция FARC в 1990-е гг. – Латиноамериканский исторический альманах. No21. 2019, с. 275 [The heirs of Violencia: the evolution of the FARC in the 1990s]. In Russian.
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It is not easy to talk about revolutionary terrorism in Latin America. From the mid 1960s to the 1980s, this term, far less popular than today, was widely used by military dictatorships in power in most countries of the continent to justify their own terror against all foci of dissent on the continent.
However, not every group labeled as terrorist is effectively a terrorist one. For example, a military junta – a military dictatorship – is a form of government in which all power belongs to the military, which passed to them as a result of a coup or was introduced with the permission of a military dictator due to the outbreak of military conflict. It has similarities with stratocracy, where the state is controlled by the military, but at the same time it is special in its own way. A few decades ago, military juntas justified their methods of regulating power as an opportunity to ensure political stability in the country or to prevent the introduction of a dangerous worldview, which would contradict their ideology.
In the same Latin America, quite often, as an excuse for the emerging regime talked about the threat of communism, and most military dictators took special training courses in US schools. These institutions pursued a loyal policy for pro-American troops in the context of the Cold War, based on United States foreign policy.4 So, for example, “Operation Condor”, which was carried out in some countries of South America in the 1970-80s. Its participants carried out executions without trial, abduction and even applied torture. This campaign was aimed at eliminating the political opposition (communists, socialists, anarchists etc.). The US themselves, pursuing the goal of strengthening their influence in Latin America, acted on the continent, together with their ideological supporters under the banner of “the fight against communism.” They tried to suppress any anti-imperialist and democratic movement without disdaining even the most gross interference in the internal politics of Latin America5.
One can argue and talk about the causes, peculiarities and other circumstances, but the fact is that it was in Latin America that for the first time in the world terrorism became a full-fledged method of political struggle. It is worth noting that in many countries terrorist methods have become almost the main weapon of the struggle, and the line between the political parties and terrorist organizations has almost disappeared.6.
The scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that this issue is first revealed in a comprehensive manner. There are works on specific countries, but to this day, the problem of international terrorism and its connection with Latin America as a whole has not been practically
4 Строганов А.И. Латинская Америка в ХХ веке: Пособие для вузов / А. И. Строганов. М.: Дрофа, 2002. – 191с. [Latin America in the XX century: Textbook for universities]. In Russian.
5 Thomas A.B. Latin America a history. New York, 1956, p. 13.
6 Beittel J.S., Sullivan M.P. Latin America: Terrorism Issues; Congressional Research Service, December 15, 2016, p 4.
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considered. In addition, the novelty of the work is given by sources introduced into scientific circulation. I have studied modern sources of information in the period from the onset of terrorist activity in Latin America to 2020, when significant changes took place on the geopolitical map of the world.
Few admitted the idea of a possible strike in Latin America from a self-proclaimed Islamic state. But due to the attacks in Paris in 2015, Tunisia 2015 and Brussels in 2016, the time has come to give this situation more attention.
In the 90s of the XX century, two terrorist acts occurred in Argentina committed by immigrants from the Middle East. They blew up the Israeli embassy and the building of the Jewish community of Buenos Aires. More than a dozen people were killed, and hundreds were injured. Based on statements made in an interview with Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) – Luis Almagro – Latin American countries have serious reasons for being carefully prepared for new threats from terrorists.7
According to Luis Almagro, based on information from the Inter-American Committee on Terrorism, ISIS successfully recruited many young people from Latin America, using modern methods and digital technologies (the Internet), and some of them joined the ranks of the terrorist organization in Syria.
“We also know that there are people from Latin America and the Caribbean who have returned home from the war zone in Syria. “We do not have accurate information about their number, but there are enough of them to organize terrorist attacks»8,- said the OAS secretary general.
«The scale of terrorism and organized crime is increasing as a result of often changing conflicts in the form of ownership, the intensification of the struggle for power on the basis of group and ethno-nationalist interests. The absence of an effective system of social crime prevention, insufficient legal and logistical support for activities to prevent terrorism and organized crime, legal nihilism, and the outflow of qualified personnel from law enforcement agencies increase the impact of this threat on the individual, society and the state»9.
7 Will ISIS strike in Latin America? // Miami Herald. – [Электронный ресурс] / Режим доступа: URL: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/newscolumnsblogs/andres oppenheimer/article697 07752.html (дата обращения 05.05.20).
8Угроза террористической атаки ИГ в Латинской Америке // Международный информационно-аналитический портал Eurasia Diary – [Электронный ресурс] / Режим доступа: //URL: http://ednews.net/ru/news/specialist-view/18098- (дата обращения 12.05.19). [Threat of terrorist attack by ISIS in Latin America]. In Russian.
9 Концепция национальной безопасности РФ. Утверждена Указом Президента Российской Федерации от 17 декабря 1997 г. No 1300 (в редакции Указа Президента РФ от 10 января 2000 г. No 24). Российская газета от 10 января 2000 г.Федерации от 17 декабря 1997 г. No 1300 (в редакции Указа Президента РФ от 10 января 2000 г. No 24). [The concept of national security of 12

The activity of islamist is demonstrated by attempt coup d’etat in Trinidad in 1990. Despite being home to various ethnic and religious communities, the Caribbean is one of the regions where Islam has no significant political influence. Trinidad and Tobago is an exception to this list. The Muslims of Trinidad were so influential and trained that they made an attempt to overthrow the government on their own, making up only 5 of the total population of the country. This island state at one time, in 1990, served as the scene of an attempt of the “Islamic revolution” of Jamaat al- Muslimin Yasin Abu Bakr, where Muslims with African and Asian roots live like a legacy from the colonial era. The coup attempt, which lasted six days, failured due to its illegality and lack of international support. Jamaat al-Muslimin members agreed to stop coup attempts subject to pardon, but they continued to be present in Trinidad politics. The high level of Dāʿish participation among Trinidad and Tobago citizens and the growing concern of other countries in the region have again drawn attention to the activities of Jamaat al-Muslimin. Moreover, when rumors appeared in 2014 of a new attempt to overthrow the Trinidad government, Jamaat al-Muslimin was again charged with this incident. This shows that the coup attempt in 1990 left a lasting psychological effect both in the country and in the region.10
Today, terrorism is one of the most unpredictable and destructive phenomena, which is becoming increasingly widespread and the number of supporters around the world.
The manifestation of this phenomenon, most often leads to mass casualties, and also has a significant impact on material and spiritual values, which can not be restored, as hatred and mistrust between various social political and national groups grow, which can be difficult to overcome throughout life. whole generation. His concept and cruel methods of achieving the goal put us in an insecure and vulnerable position.
Already long enough, go beyond the national framework, terrorism has acquired an international character. His activity led to the creation of a whole system to combat it at the international level. Terrorist ideology is the type of criminal violence that most often affects innocent people who have absolutely nothing to do with the conflict. Recently, we quite often encounter a similar situation when either groups or organizations use such methods to solve political, national, religious and other problems.
the Russian Federation. Approved by the decree of the President of the Russian Federation of December 17, 1997. No1300 (as amended by the the decree of the President of the Russian Federation of January 10, 2000. No24). Russian newspaper of January 10, 2000. Federation of December 17, 1997. No1300 (as amended by the decree of the President of the Russian Federation of January 10, 2000. No24]. In Russian.
10 Bayram M.The Islamic Revolution Attempt in Trinidad & Tobago and Its significance for the Caribbean Politics//1st International Congress on «People, Power and Politics». October 19-21, 2018, Kirsehir, Turkey. P. 74.
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Among the most effective means that are in the arsenal of terrorists, one can single out violence and intimidation, which applies both to government officials and ordinary civilians who are not involved in a conflict situation. As a confirmation of the seriousness of their intentions, disastrous consequences are being demonstrated, such as the explosion of a shopping center on September 11, 2001 in the United States of America or the promise of a similar outcome.
All of the above determines the relevance of the theme of the relationship of Latin America and the problems of international terrorism, which are currently changing especially dynamically in the system of international relations.
The purpose of the research is to identify forms of manifestation of terrorist activity (including international) in Latin America and the nature of international cooperation in the fight against these organizations.
Goal identified research objectives:
– to study the stages of the formation of terrorism (in its international form) in Latin America, starting from the period after the Second World War;
– to determine the differences between modern forms of terrorism and their features in the XXI century;
– to identify the political interests of international terrorist organizations in Latin America; – to identify the political interests of local terrorist organizations in Latin America.
– establish the role of anti-terrorist forces in countering terrorist organizations;
– identify methods of fighting terrorism in Latin America;
– outline the perspectives for counter-terrorism in Latin America.
Object of research – International and local terrorist structures in the territory of Latin America.
Subject of research- features of the confrontation of Latin America and international terrorism.
The source base of the Master’s thesis. During the implementation of the master’s thesis, many sources turned out to be very useful. Indisputable assistance was provided by the official websites of the United Nations (UN), the Organization of American States, the US Department of Defense, the Department of Defense of Latin America, human rights organizations (Amnesty International), UNODC, and the Federal laws of the Russian Federation. Thanks to these resources, a lot of reliable information was received regarding terrorist activity. The UN, as the main organization for ensuring peace and security in its history, has created many documents that detail terrorism and provide a full description of its actions, as well as the positions and responsibilities of countries to counter this threat. The OAS website has helped to take a closer look at the terrorism situation in Latin America. Despite the UN, this Internet portal is more focused on the region and
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has its own perception of reality. In my opinion, the necessary documents turned out to be such documents as the White Paper of the states – Argentina, Chile and Brazil, which reflected the anti- terrorism policy. The sites of human rights organizations are, of course, necessary to understand the full picture of human rights issues, especially in Latin America, where they are often violated. Also, it was possible to find statistical information and compare the dynamics of this problem over several years. The site of the US State Department, allowed to look at the situation from the perspective of the American authorities. Since the United States actively joined the fight against terrorism after September 11, 2001, its contribution to the OAS cannot be underestimated. However, one should not take everything for the truth, since the United States is the only superpower and it is trying to establish its laws everywhere (including imposing its own policy on the fight against terrorism in Latin America). It is necessary to take this information into account, but taking only it as the truth will be unreasonable, since sometimes this information is unreliable. Also, I want to note that the US State Department website contained hidden documents that were closed in the free access, which prompted the use of electronic resources.
Among other sources, the Federal Laws of the Russian Federation were used to familiarize themselves with the concept of terrorism and its spread, as well as measures by the authorities to counter-terrorism, including with Latin American countries. The official UNODC website contained a lot of information about the drug problem and organized crime, which is very characteristic of Latin America. The documents made it possible to get acquainted with statistics on combating threats and successful actions by states to overcome the threat.
Among electronic resources, it is worth mentioning mainly news portals, such as RIA Novosti, The New York Times, The Washington Post, La Nacion, CNN, BBC New and others. These news portals made it possible to get acquainted with modern information both in Latin America and abroad, which is very relevant for today. However, depending on the country that published the information, the data may be slightly distorted in their own interests, which does not allow us to fully evaluate modern international relations.
An extensive list of literature was also involved in the work. I would like to mention the works of O. Budnitsky “Terrorism in the Russian liberation movement: ideology, ethics, psychology” and “Terrorism through the eyes of a historian: the ideology of terrorism.” In this book, the author compares terrorism using the example of the revolutionary movement in Russia, thereby revealing its features. The author considers the basic ideas and ways to achieve their goals by terrorists; the ideological struggle is touched upon. The work demonstrates the impact of terrorism on Russian society. This book, of course, cannot be taken as the basis for the master’s work, since it does not reveal all terrorism, but it gives a general concept of terrorism and its foundations, which helped in writing the first chapter. For a more detailed understanding of the
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problem in the context of Latin America, I had to turn to the work of specialists in this particular region.
Of particular note is the book by E. Che Guevara “Guerrilla Warfare”. This book was written by the great Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara, who adhered to the Marxist-Leninist approach. This was a kind of textbook, which contained the theory of the guerrilla focus, as well as Che’s experience of guerrilla movement. In this book, a lot of pages were devoted to guerrilla warfare, showing the effectiveness of this fight against dictatorial governments. Che Guevara adhered to the ideas of Mao Zedong and Vladimir Lenin, associating himself with socialism. This work helped to analyze important historical aspects in the revolutionary wars of the 20th century in Latin America.
Another significant work was the monograph by W.Laqueur “The Age of Terrorism” which more widely observes the problem of terrorism as a wrong ideology. The author talks about terror since the 19th century, comparing it with the events of the 20th century, analyzes the actions of right and left groups. In the course of the work, an analysis of such aspects of terrorism as financing, arms transfers, intelligence and the role of the media was carried out. Laqueur discusses whether terrorism has a personality and whether it is possible to solve this problem by eradicating its motives.
But unfortunately, the monographs were not enough to get information on Latin America. The most productive were books and scientific articles by specialists who specialize in this region. So, work of B.F.Martynov “Cross-border terrorism: security threats and the imperatives of international cooperation.” Boris Martynov conducted a comprehensive study of terrorism in the countries of the Western Hemisphere, as well as methods to combat Latin American countries with this threat. Terrorism in this work is considered as a global problem and countermeasures are proposed based on the situation in Latin America and global practice. The paper examined the positions of the fight against terrorists from the United States and from representatives of Latin America.
Very informative articles were written by V.L.Jeifets- a member of the Association of Ibero- American World Explorers and professor at the Saint-Petersburg State University. In this master dissertation were used such his articles as “The Maoist Trend in the Colombian Guerrilla Movement”, “The Heirs of Violencia: the Evolution of the FARC in the 1990s,” “Jump from Curacao” and the Elimination of the Venezuelan Revolutionary Party” and, finally, “Latin American Countries and the challenge of the “Islamic state.”” These works contained extensive data on Latin America of the XX-XXI centuries. The author analyzed the evolution of the FARC group known in the region, and also pointed out the organization’s possible connections with international terrorism. The challenges of the international terrorism (represented in this case by the ISIS) to
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Latin America are analyzed. The studied trends and ideologies in Latin America were very useful in writing the historical part of the master’s thesis (Chapter 2), since such information is very limited for free access.
It is worth mentioning the work of G.I.Kolarov –“The Urban “Guerrilla” in Latin America: “Tupamaros” and “Montoneros””. Here is a review of the ideology and military-political factors of urban guerrilla. The author focuses on groups such as «Tupamaros» and «Montoneros», which were very popular in Argentina and Uruguay in the 1960s and resorted to terrorist methods. The article analyzes the role of Carlos Marighela as the founder of the Urban guerilla. An article by Mürsel Bayram, a Turkish professor at the University of Social Sciences of Ankara, “The Islamic Revolution Attempt in Trinidad & Tobago and Its Significance for the Carribbean Politics” opened the curtain over Trinidad and Tobago past events, where terrorism was barely manifested. However, in 1990 there was an attempt of the Islamic revolution, which left its mark on the history of the state.
The work of state institutions such as G.V.Startsev turned out to be useful for my work. I refer to Y.I.Strashko’s article “Features of modern conflicts in Latin America and the role of the OAS in the settlement of the Falkland conflict” published by MGIMO University. Both texts surveyed such narrow aspects of terrorism, such as financing, economic interaction and counter- terrorism measures.
The structure of the final qualification work includes: introduction (reveals the relevance of the topic, object and subject, purpose, objectives and research methods, scientific novelty and a chronological framework, and also contains a brief analysis of the sources and literature used). The first section examines the emergence of terrorism as a global threat to humanity. Features of terrorism in the XX-XXI centuries are reviewed and differences are established. The second section discusses in more detail the development of terrorism in Latin America (integralism, left and right movements). The factors of the influence of local groups on the international situation are revealed. The third section contains information on international terrorism, its relationship with the Latin American group, and its impact on the stability of the region. (ISIS, Hezbola). Also, it discusses the anti-terrorism activities of Latin America and the general challenges to the security of states.