The Puzzle of the Iguazu Tri-Border Area: Many Questions and Few Answers Regarding Organised Crime and Terrorism Links

It is widely accepted that the Tri-Border Area between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay is a nexus in global terrorist support, and perhaps even operations. However, it is rather more difficult actually to provide evidence of this connection. The region is certainly a smuggling haven, and has substantial populations from the Middle East. Beyond remittances sent to the Middle East – some of which flows to such organisations as Hezbollah – there is little hard evidence available to the academic researcher. Thus the study of this purported crime-terror nexus provides a valuable opportunity for academic researchers to question the assumptions and assertions of policy-makers and pundits, push for transparency of information on the reality of the region and even help understand the problem better.