President Juan Orlando Hernández announced on Twitter that Honduras will officially designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization on Monday. “Tomorrow, coinciding with the Third Ministerial Conference Against Terrorism in the Western Hemisphere, the National Defense and Security Council of Honduras will designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization as part of our security policy expressed in specific actions throughout my government…the culmination of security policies expressed over several years,” Hernández tweeted.
1/7Tomorrow, coinciding with the third Western Hemisphere Counterterrorism Ministerial conference, the National Defense and Security Council of Honduras will designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization… https://t.co/gegXuXCaLr— Juan Orlando H. (@JuanOrlandoH) January 20, 2020
In a joint appearance with Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf on January 9, Hernández “reaffirmed [his] decision regarding Hezbollah and reported the detention of 4 Iranians on Honduran territory.” Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon tweeted thanking Hernández, “An important step in the fight against Iranian terrorism and proxies in the Middle East and throughout the world. Thank you.”
— Ambassador Danny Danon | דני דנון (@dannydanon) January 20, 2020
Hernández also tweeted about the events that lead up to this decision. “In 2018 and 2019 Honduras participated in the Western Hemisphere Counterterrorism Ministerial conference, that has focused attention on the presence and activities of Hezbollah in Latin America.” “On December 8th, 2019, I addressed the Israeli American Council, describing the security threat posed by the terrorist group Hezbollah and its activities of transnational organized crime…the terror attack against AMIA in Buenos Aires, and the killing of Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman ,” he wrote. His tweet in Spanish included a video of himself at the conference.
4/6. El 8 de diciembre de 2019 me dirigí al Consejo Americano Israelí, describí la amenaza de seguridad que representa el grupo terrorista Hezbolá y su papel en crimen organizado transnacional, el ataque terrorista contra AMIA en Buenos Aires y la muerte del fiscal Alberto Nisman pic.twitter.com/2KFBPh8Suq— Juan Orlando H. (@JuanOrlandoH) January 20, 2020
When tweeting his announcement in English, Hernández retweeted US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who wrote on January 18 about the 5th anniversary of Alberto Nisman’s assassination. “On this 5 year anniversary of prosecutor Alberto Nisman’s death, we remember the 1994 AMIA Jewish center attack in Buenos Aires and his tireless efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice. We call on all nations to designate #Hizballah as the terrorist organization it is,” Pompeo wrote.
On this 5 year anniversary of prosecutor Alberto Nisman’s death, we remember the 1994 AMIA Jewish center attack in Buenos Aires and his tireless efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice. We call on all nations to designate #Hizballah as the terrorist organization it is.— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) January 18, 2020
Hezbollah has a storied history in Latin America. The organization attacked AMIA, a Jewish center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1994, leaving 85 dead. Jewish Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman was assassinated in 2015 prior to his giving testimony about Iranian activity in Argentina. Honduras announced its intention to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization in early January, but will make the designation official on Monday, January 20. Cnaan Liphshiz conrtibuted to this report. Source
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