Concerns Grow as Upcoming World Cup and Olympics Host Brazil Refrains From Addressing Terror
- Posted on September 3, 2011 at 3:42pm by
Christopher Santarelli
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Khaled Hussein Ali lives in Sao Paulo and allegedly works for al-Qaida. But this does not mean he is a terrorist.
In fact, no one in Brazil is considered a terrorist.
Even as the world has cracked down hard on terror, some countries have refrained from adopting anti-terror laws. Their stance has racked up consternation at a time when terrorism is a global concern, especially with Brazil now set to host the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games.
“Officially, Brazil does not have terrorism inside its borders,” wrote Lisa Kubiske, then the U.S. deputy chief of mission in Brasilia, in an August 2009 cable released by WikiLeaks. “In reality, several Islamic groups with known or suspected ties to extremist organizations have branches in Brazil and are suspected of carrying out financing activities.”
Several countries in Latin America resist anti-terror laws because they still hold fresh memories of state dictatorships that killed or spirited away thousands of political opponents in the 1970s and ’80s.
“These are places that had civil wars … where the country ripped itself to pieces trying to fight terrorist organizations,” said Princeton law professor Kim Lane Scheppele, who studies the global war on terror. “Once they got out of it and managed to put in place a democratic system, they said ‘never again.’”
Countries such as Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina only recently adopted weakened versions of anti-terror laws focused on money laundering, to avoid being blacklisted by the world’s financial system. Just one suspect in Argentina has been prosecuted under these laws to date.
In Brazil, President Dilma Rousseff was herself arrested and tortured for her militancy against the military dictatorship from 1964 to 1985; former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was arrested by the same regime, and Fernando Henrique Cardoso, the president before him, was exiled for his activism.
The lack of political will to go hard on terrorism is frustrating to American officials, as is suggested in cables released by WikiLeaks. For example, Brazil does not consider Hezbollah, Hamas or the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia as terrorist organizations.
“The Government of Brazil remains highly sensitive to public claims suggesting that terrorist or extremist organizations have a presence or are undertaking activities in Brazil,” said one cable sent in 2008 by former Ambassador Clifford Sobel.
A U.S. official at the U.S. Embassy in Brasilia declined to talk on the record.
Brazil’s stance on terrorism is reflected in the case of Ali, a Lebanese-born resident of Brazil.
In 2009, the FBI contacted Brazilian federal police about Ali. He appeared to live a quiet life, running an Internet cafe to support his Brazilian wife and daughter. But Ali was also broadcasting anti-American content in Arabic from a password-protected website and could be connected to a terrorist group, federal prosecutor Ana Leticia Absy told the AP in a statement.
Ali was arrested in April on hate speech charges and held for the maximum 21 days. The contents of his computers were investigated, but he wasn’t found to be a high risk. So he was released, Absy said, in May 2009.
Alexandre Cassettari, the Sao Paulo federal judge who authorized his release, said in a statement that Ali didn’t have a criminal record and his influence and control were being monitored. He is still being prosecuted on charges of racism, racketeering, and inciting criminal activity.
Later that year, the head of the Brazilian Federal Police’s intelligence division alleged during a Congressional hearing that Ali was linked to al-Qaida. In that deposition he concluded that Ali “was the global head of the Jihad Media Battalion and had performed duties for the terrorist group, ranging from propaganda, to logistics, recruitment, and other activities.”
Government officials, however, continue to deny the presence of alleged terrorists in the country.
The irony is that Brazil’s winning bid in 2009 for the Olympics was based in part on a pitch for the country as untouched by international terrorism.
“We don’t have attacks, we don’t have bombs,” then-president Silva said at the time.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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fearandloathing
Posted on September 4, 2011 at 1:55pmThis is going to be ugly.
Report Post »Jack of Hearts
Posted on September 4, 2011 at 4:07pmCan we PLEASE have a story on here without this stupid, pointless cliche every time!?*
Report Post »autofixer
Posted on September 4, 2011 at 10:12amI fly to Rio weekly. Terrorism is the least of their problems. Crime, drugs and poverty are everywhere. Rio is a place where police helicoptors are shot down with R.P.G.s. The Military Police invade drug infested neighborhoods with armored personel carriers and heavy machine guns–and they get armed opposition from the drug lords. Who would know if terrorism was occuring? The people are great and are very friendly, most are just dirt poor. Corruption is the way things are done (As with most of “Latin America”.). I wonder how the Olympics, in particular, are going to be pulled off. I guess a giant facade will be erected to screen the World from the reality of most people in Rio. “Let them eat cake!”
Report Post »MUDFLAPS
Posted on September 4, 2011 at 10:10amNext olympics will be held in Iraq Ill bet. We gotta show political correctness dont ya know.
Report Post »Ronko
Posted on September 4, 2011 at 10:00amThat is going to be a huge problem and yet nobody is going to do anything about it. If Brazil wants multiple Atlanta Olympic type bombing’s that is their mess.
Report Post »freeweever
Posted on September 4, 2011 at 9:53amDahhh, this coming from a country who’s President said the worlds problems are created by Blond haired Blue eyed people, what a racist thing to say and I have neither.
Report Post »the point
Posted on September 4, 2011 at 9:12amBrazil has too much communist influence in their government. The terror threat is really great for the olympics.
Report Post »Secret Squirrel
Posted on September 4, 2011 at 9:50am.
And the big winner in all this?
Chicago and US taxpayers.
What a nightmare that would have been.
Report Post »Iman Barak Hussein
Posted on September 4, 2011 at 8:55amThis will be the most crime-filled disorganized olympics in history.
It will be a paradise for hookers and pimps, for drug dealers, for muggers,
and yes, for the photographers who capture it all.
And as a bonus, some terrorism on the side.
It was obama who blew the opportunity for the U.S. to get the olympics, with his
Report Post »insistence of the Chicago location.
kralspaces
Posted on September 3, 2011 at 11:22pmOfficially, the Jews were not being murdered by the NAZIS prior to 1941. So much for the Official Stand.
Report Post »Jamestownrd
Posted on September 4, 2011 at 8:44amAnother dark skinned people…acknowledged
Report Post »R4M0N
Posted on September 3, 2011 at 10:36pmI was born and raised in Brazil… Even way back then (about 20 years ago) we would hear story after story in the news about kidnappings and it was always mentioned that those kidnappings were, in fact, just forms of financing for other criminal activities. To connect the dots and assume terrorism is one of those activities is not a giant leap, or a leap at all.
Brazil is a great country and most Brazilians are very friendly towards Americans (and their Dollars, hehehe). But it only takes one bad apple to make carnage, and believe me, Brazil has way more than one bad apple.
Like someone else has said, there are way worse things Brazilians worry about daily than terrorism.
Report Post »judy1270
Posted on September 3, 2011 at 10:14pmObamaie, gave his little Marxist…………….. $30 billion dollars to drill for oil, to sale back to the United States……………Or did he?
Report Post »Does anyone think that money is being used to drill for oil…………….I think not.
13th Imam
Posted on September 4, 2011 at 11:59amCash for the “Screw America Four More Years Reelection Tour”
Report Post »iloveusa2
Posted on September 3, 2011 at 8:54pmI am a Brazilian and live here (unfortunately!). This is a country run by thugs! Corruption is present in all levels of society. Our President is a terrorist herself. With the excuse of fighting the military regime that ruled this country for more than 2 decades she became a part of a paramilitary group to “fight for the liberty of the people”. Many people here believe this! She is Marxist, but like all of them have no guts to reveal it to the public. Brazilian people is interested only in soccer (football here), carnival and the beaches. People in Brazil are not aware of the big concentration of Muslims in the southern region of the country close to the Argentina-Paraguay-Brazil frontier. People here will think in doing something only if a terrible thing happens for them (it is a prevalent cultural aspect). I lived in Rio for many years (now living in a smaller city) and the city is extremely dangerous. The “cariocas” (natives from Rio) don`t realize how dangerous the city is. Robberies to shops, houses and people on the street happen everyday, but the press do not even give a lot importance to this fact because it does not bother the population anymore (because it is so common). They try to cover all the crime in the city to show the world how the city has changed in the past years. It is a joke! If you are planning to come here (something I do not recommend) be cautious. This is a place where people try to rip foreigners off! This is only the truth, unfortunately!
Report Post »jb.kibs
Posted on September 3, 2011 at 9:42pm:( there is no way for you to get out of there?
Report Post »kralspaces
Posted on September 3, 2011 at 11:37pmWhere would he (or she) go? They speak Portuguese there… The rest of South America has the same problem with corruption. Come to think of it, so does Central America. But wait, aren’t we having the same problems here in North America too?
Report Post »chazman
Posted on September 4, 2011 at 5:43am… I’ll stay right here in the good old U.S.A. At least I know where I stand …
Report Post »savedman
Posted on September 3, 2011 at 8:23pmWith a huge graven image to bow down to like that false jesus of the false catholic church no wonder they are worried about the mooslum terrorists! Sinner friends you better flee from the old whore church (Revelation 17). All of the graven images, idols, mother mary, jesus cookies, fermented hootch, and perverted priest and nuns, cannot help you get to heaven. You must Repent and Receive the Lord Jesus Christ‘s finished work on calvary’s cross (Acts 20:21), Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
12 ¶For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
willnotbackdown
Posted on September 3, 2011 at 9:57pmIt would be nice if you came up with something new and origanal, it’s a little boring hearing the same things on each artical like a broken record. I am supprised you haven’t called Mary the whore of babalon or some other unoriganal remark.
Report Post »Jenny Lind
Posted on September 3, 2011 at 8:10pmWow! The three monkeys- hear no evil , see no evil, speak no evil. Good luck with that and be sure and let us know how that works out for you, dummies!
Report Post »Suzee
Posted on September 3, 2011 at 9:37pmWell this is pretty much how Ron Paul feels about terrorists…….‘leave them alone and they will leave you alone’. He pretty much just shrugs it off and said the same during the last Repub. debate hosted by Fox….the one with the goofy doorbell ringing thing.
Report Post »nptden
Posted on September 3, 2011 at 6:18pmThey know they are there. And our Muslim POTUS knows they are there. And he give them oil contracts and grants. We know who our enemy is. The present administration.
Report Post »NeoFan
Posted on September 3, 2011 at 7:46pmIf the terrorists go there they will get robbed shot and beaten like everyone else. Brazil is a contrast between incredibly beautiful geography and poverty and filth on a grand scale. Don’t ever call it third world or you could find yourself in big trouble with the Brazilians. I have a friend that is married to a Brazilian and lives there half of the year. He was in a public bathroom and a toddler was playing in the filth on the floor. He politely told the child to go outside and play and the childs grandfather chewed him out big time.
Report Post »He says the people keep tomatoes in the fridge but don’t believe in keeping eggs in there.
It is a very interesting place and will make for one of the most interesting Olympic adventures to date. Like Mexico its a very nice place to visit but very risky.
rpercifield
Posted on September 3, 2011 at 6:11pmMy perspective on Brazil is from working with many expats. They culturally are adverse to identifying problems and fixing them, till it there is no other choice but to address them. Many a project has failed to execute on time because of this tendency. They will not address terrorism until it kills a few people, and then it will be a surprise that it was a problem in the first place.
Report Post »mule creek ridge
Posted on September 3, 2011 at 4:50pmThey know they are there.They know they won’t cause any problems there, so they have a good base for shifting money,equipment,demo components,and personnel into a position to cause grief and injury to their prime targets.
Report Post »In the mean time Brazil can rake in the Big Bucks without worrying about danger to Brazil.
Some time,down the road,IMO, they will wish they’d put a lot of time and effort into dealing with it.!!!!
bobbyjoe
Posted on September 3, 2011 at 4:45pmIsn’t she Mr. “O” friend. Sounds like what he wants happening here. “I see nothing” attitude until it’s all gone.
Report Post »zoro51
Posted on September 3, 2011 at 4:37pmbe an octrich burry your head in the sand IGNORE all the facts. see your nation suffer… NEXT
Report Post »Bernard
Posted on September 3, 2011 at 4:37pmBrazil has a large Muslim community and also one of the world’s largest Japanese community. It is a polyglot society and is quite open to terrorism. A Mexican friend of mine who visited Rio de Janeiro was mugged within the first day he landed there. Crime is high and that city’s slums are notorious dens of crime and drugs. It is only time before that Portuguese speaking Catholic nation is targeted by the Muslims. One reason Brazil belongs to the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China) whose economy is supposed to surge, and like the US, the Al-Qaeda will target her economy. Remember the Al-Qaeda and many Imams across the Middle East want to convert the rest of the world to Islam, making Brazil a ticking time bomb.
Report Post »Sheepdog911
Posted on September 3, 2011 at 4:42pmLike anyone with more than two functioning brain cells would go there for anything besides Carnival.
Report Post »Marnin
Posted on September 3, 2011 at 4:21pmThis is one of the countries that harbored Nazi war criminals for years. Why would anyone expect them to be serious about terrorism?
Report Post »1000-yd-stare
Posted on September 3, 2011 at 4:14pmI worked in multiple cities in Brazil for three years in the early 90′s. It’s way over rated. I would imagine terrorism is the least of their worries considering the crime.
Report Post »babylonvi
Posted on September 3, 2011 at 3:55pmIf sufficient anti-terror measures are not instituted, the State Department should broadly broadcast advisories stating the risk and not to expect government intervention should they are attacked or held for ransom(as they are so fond of doing in S.A).
Report Post »hi
Posted on September 3, 2011 at 3:50pmGreat! That’s the Olympics my kid is going to be in! Hope they figure it out by then. Ha!
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