By Rodrigo Viga Gaier
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Brazil’s Federal Police on Wednesday arrested two people in a group suspected of being financed by Hezbollah that was allegedly preparing domestic attacks and looking to recruit Brazilians, three sources with knowledge of the probe told Reuters.
The Federal Police said in a statement they arrested two people, who they did not name, on terrorism charges in Sao Paulo. They also carried out search and seizure warrants in Sao Paulo, Brasilia and Minas Gerais states. The police statement did not mention Hezbollah, an Iran-backed group in Lebanon.
Hezbollah could not immediately be reached for comment.
“The Federal Police is carrying out an investigation based on the hypothesis of a terrorist network that was trying to install itself in Brazil,” Justice Minister Flavio Dino said at an event in Rio de Janeiro.
Jewish leaders told Reuters last month that they had noticed a rise in antisemitic discourse online, amid a broader global surge in antisemitism since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on southern Israel and subsequent bombardment of the Gaza Strip by the Israeli military.
“We’re following with apprehension and concern this Federal Police operation today. Brazil doesn’t have a history of terrorism and we hope that the conflict in the Middle East isn’t imported over to here,” said Ricardo Berkiensztat, executive president of the Jewish Federation of the State of Sao Paulo (Fisesp).
Hezbollah was set up by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982 to fight Israeli forces that had invaded Lebanon. The heavily armed powerful group has seats in parliament and government and acts as Iran’s spearhead in Lebanon and the region.
Since the Oct. 7 attack, Hezbollah has been engaging Israeli forces along the border, in the deadliest escalation since it fought a war with Israel in 2006.
Hezbollah has been designated a terrorist organization by Argentina, Britain, Canada, Germany, Honduras and the United States, as well as most U.S.-allied Gulf states. Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said in 2019 he planned to also label Hezbollah a terrorist organization, but the move never took place.
(Additional reporting by Steven Grattan, Gabriel Stargardter and Lisandra Paraguassu; Writing by Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
