The United States on Wednesday froze the U.S. assets of nine people and two businesses in the border area of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay who Washington said helped funnel millions of dollars to Lebanon's Hezbollah. The U.S. government considers Hezbollah, a Shiite Muslim group whose guerrillas fought a 34-day war with Israel in July and August, a terrorist organization. The Treasury said the people and businesses raised and transferred cash for Hezbollah through the so-called triple border area between the South American countries, which is home to a large Arab community.The action triggered a U.S. executive order on Wednesday freezing their U.S. assets and banning transactions with U.S. citizens and banks. "...It is safe to say that millions of dollars have been raised and moved by this network," Treasury Assistant Secretary for terrorist financing Pat O'Brien told reporters in reference to the triple-border area. "One of the key ways money has moved is through personal couriers." For example, O'Brien said one of the people on the list, Ali Kazan, raised more than $500,000 for Hezbollah as recently as August.
The U.S. government has raised concern in recent years that the porous frontier region is a center of fund-raising and money laundering for Middle Eastern groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. Brazil denies this.