Colombia’s defense minister says the country has expelled two Lebanese Hezbollah terrorists.
Colombia’s defense minister said in an interview with Eltiempo on Sunday (November 14th) that Lebanese Hezbollah’s activities in the country are being controlled on suspicion of criminal operations. “Two months ago, we faced a situation where we had to launch an operation to arrest and expel two Lebanese Hezbollah terrorists who were planning a criminal operation in Colombia,” said Diego Molano Aponte.
He declined to give further details about the operation, but Eltiempo newspaper quoted sources in the Colombian military security service as saying that Lebanese Shiite groups had spied on American and Israeli businessmen in the country. There are many Lebanese living in Colombia. Lebanon’s Hezbollah has previously announced plans to increase its presence in Venezuela and other Latin American countries.
“Hezbollah’s presence in Venezuela and its links to drug gangs or terrorist groups on the Venezuelan border [with Colombia] could pose a threat to national security,” the Colombian defense minister said in an interview.
Colombia accuses neighboring Venezuela of backing and sheltering guerrillas in the fight against Colombia. Relations between the two neighboring countries are strained and the borders between them have been closed since 2015.
On November 8, when the Colombian defense minister visited Israel with the president, he said the two countries had a “common enemy” – the Islamic regime of Iran and Hezbollah – and that they were organizing not only operations against Israel but also support Venezuela’s leftist regime.
