Patterns of Global Terrorism 2002 - Chile

The Chilean Government is a consistent and active supporter of US counterterrorism efforts and has taken an active interest in the activities of Islamic extremists connected to the Triborder area of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. In addition, the Chilean Government is working to enact new counterterrorism legislation and strengthen current laws. Chile is a party to 11 of the 12 international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism. The Chilean Senate is considering a bill to create a new Financial Intelligence Unit and criminalize money laundering for arms trafficking and terrorist financing. Chilean officials have sought advice from the US Embassy on how to improve the money-laundering bill and have participated in training courses to improve financial investigations.

The Chilean Government also has contracted an independent consulting firm to author a study on how US law-enforcement agencies have implemented new counterterrorism legislation. Although the Chilean Government has cooperated in efforts to eliminate terrorist financing, it is limited in its ability to investigate and prosecute suspect individuals. Currently, Chilean money-laundering legislation does not cover terrorist activity, so efforts to freeze terrorist funds are hindered by a lack of legal authority.

There were no acts of international terrorism in Chile in 2002, but there were significant developments in three counterterrorism investigations begun in 2001. In late September 2001, the US Embassy had received a letter bomb that local police successfully destroyed in a controlled demolition, and a Santiago doctor's office received an anthrax-tainted letter. The Chilean Government also opened an investigation into the activities in the northern port city of Iquique of Brazil-based Lebanese businessman Assad Ahmad Barakat – suspected of opening two businesses as cover to move money clandestinely to Lebanese Hizballah.

In September 2002, a Chilean judge sentenced two individuals – Lenin Guardia and Humberto Lopez – to 10 years and 300 days in prison for sending the letter bomb to the US Embassy and another to a prominent Chilean attorney. The motivation of Guardia, the professed ringleader, was to create fear in order to generate business for his security-consulting firm.

Another Chilean judge, with the assistance of the FBI, determined the anthrax letter sent in November 2001 to Dr. Antonio Bafi Pacheco was not related to the anthrax cases in the United States and was contaminated locally. This investigation continues.

The investigation into Assad Ahmad Barakat's business in Chile has not led to new information. Barakat was arrested in Brazil in June 2002, and the Brazilian Supreme Court ordered his extradition to Paraguay in December. His lawyers have applied for refugee status in Brazil, and Barakat will remain in detention in Brazil while his refugee case is considered. Barakat no longer has significant holdings in Chile, and his partners in Saleh Trading Limited, located in the northern duty-free port of Iquique, severed ties with him in 2002. Assad and his brother still own an import-export business in Iquique, but according to the Chilean Government, it has not been active.

In August and September, Chilean authorities discovered several small arms caches throughout Santiago and other cities as well as the remnants of explosive material at two communications transmission towers outside Santiago. The weapons and explosives are believed to belong to the largely defunct terrorist group Manual Rodriguez Patriotic Front (FPMR). Law-enforcement agents believe the weapons were smuggled into Chile in the 1980s, at the height of FPMR's activity, but some view the caches as evidence of an FPMR comeback.

Chile continues to lead other South American nations in its implementation of aviation security. The Government has implemented FAA security regulations ahead of schedule, including the installation of reinforced cockpit doors and the transfer of responsibility for inspecting unaccompanied baggage to the Government.