Earlier this month, we noted a Homeland Security Today report which detailed the rise of radical Islamists in Latin America. Now comes a story in Israel's Ynetnews on a suspected Hizballah terrorist cell being put together in Venezuela, with the blessing of Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez. The Ynet report states the Hizballah operation collects intelligence in Latin America and is focused on identifying possible Israeli or Jewish targets for attack in retaliation for the assassination of Imad Mughniyeh.

It sounds similar to an operation Egyptian officials claim to have broken up last spring.

In Venezuela, the Chavez government reportedly is providing support to this Hizballah operation and coordinating such actions with Iran. The Ynet article states that Hizballah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards have created special units to kidnap Jewish business people in Latin America and take them to Lebanon.

This latest report only highlights the danger posed by Hizballah and its state sponsor Iran in America's backyard.

The Homeland Security Today showed how Iamic terror organizations from the Middle East have been establishing significant operational footholds in various Latin American countries since the 1980s.

In the past four years, reports have surfaced showing how drug traffickers and their supply routes are being used to advance the terrorist infiltration. Examples are here, here and here.