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WHY THERE IS NO DAESH (ISIS) THREAT IN LATIN AMERICA?

Based on a research article by Mehmet Ozkan

To link to the full article:  http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2017.1384673

Introduction

Latin America still represents the safest continent on the Earth from ISIS’ (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) threat. Although ISIS uses social media as the first way of attracting young people to its ideology and although, Latin American Muslims are extremely well connected to social media, they have not been attracted to ISIS. Are Latino Muslims immune from ISIS’s attractiveness? What keeps them away from ISIS’s social media messages and recruitment strategies? This article tries to answer these questions.

Latin America has the least number of ISIS fighters

Terrorist attacks by ISIS in Turkey, France, Belgium and elsewhere, inevitably suggests that ISIS has the capacity of reaching the entire world. However, despite some false alarming voices, as we will see, ISIS still has no place in Latin America (1).

According to the Soufan Group Report, it is estimated that over 27,000 foreign fighters have travelled to Iraq and Syria since fighting broke out in 2011 (2,3). Out of this number, there are approximately 6000 people from Europe, with most fighters joining from France, Germany and the UK. It is also observed that the number of foreign fighters from Western Europe has doubled since June 2014 (4).

So far, a total of 76 people from Latin America are believed to have travelled to ISIS territory (5, 6). This indicates that Latin American foreign fighters constitute less than 0.003 of the total population (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Estimated number of foreign fighters by continent.

 

Muslims of Latin America

Latin America has no more than 1% of Muslims of its total population (7). Out of 625 million in the continent, many believe that there are only 6 million Muslims. If one divides this number, traditionally Arab populations, which originated from the Middle East—popularly called Los Turcos—are in the majority. Perhaps only 30–40% of the Latino Muslims have converted to Islam (8).

The Arab community has integrated into the economic and social life in different countries in Latin America. They have mostly been engaged in business, as compared to Muslims in Europe and the United States. They feel pretty at home because they can live their religion freely without any state intervention. Although they feel some sort of attachment to their homeland; however, this mostly does not amount to more than an emotional belonging. Many of them, due to distance from their homeland, are already disconnected from the reality of their original countries.

Latino Muslim converts have no real connection with the Middle East. Their inclination toward the Muslim world is merely cultural and emotional rather political  (9).  Despite their young ages, usually between 18 and 24 years old, many of them have no further education than a bachelor’s degree. Only a few speak other languages, besides Spanish, to connect to the outside world. Although they all intend to learn Arabic at one stage in their life, their success in perfectly speaking and understanding Arabic is rare. Therefore there has been no momentum among Latino Muslims to join ISIS.

Some countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt have offered some converts full-scholarship to study Islam. However, most of them return to the continent with a total disappointment (10) after realizing that Arabic culture is much more dominating and organizing Arab’s life than the religion itself. Therefore, some try to look for a different interpretation and understanding of Islam in a Latino context (11).

Perception of Latino Converts on the Middle East

As mentioned above Latino converts are young and their main source of information about Islam is the Internet and social media (12). Although this may make them easy prey for ISIS, the terrorist group so far has failed to penetrate their minds and get popularity among them. Latino Muslim converts know a little about the issue of Palestine and Israel and the other complex problems of the region. Therefore, they see the Middle East from a different perspective.

The other element that shapes their perception of Muslims and the Middle East are Los Turcos in the continent. The interaction with Los Turcos in the mosques and the social life as friends, brothers and sisters in Islam, show them a peaceful and sometimes pacifist image of Arabs and Muslims. Indeed, one can hardly come across any conversation about political issues. Therefore, experiences along with the cultural approach to the Middle East makes Latino converts mostly out of touch from the reality in the Middle East.

It is also important to note here that there are few Latino Muslims who have studied in the Middle Eastern in an academic context. Interestingly enough, those who usually show interest in Middle Eastern politics are usually non-Muslims.

Online Community and Romanticism

There is an extremely salient romanticism about Islam among Latino Muslims. This has been fed, produced and re-produced over time. This today takes place mostly through the Internet and social media. Perhaps, Latino converts are one of the very well connected Muslims to the virtual world. For them, the Internet is a place for socialization, information, friendship and most importantly feeling like part of the larger Islamic community. Considering that there are not many available books about Islam in Spanish, online forums, Facebook groups and Internet forums are the main source of socialization, debates and gathering knowledge (13).

The majority of young people entering Islam are partly attracted to the romance, exoticism and charm of Arabic culture. Therefore,  most of the young Latino Muslims see the internet as a place for finding an exotic and romantic husband; or opening a new chapter in their life as a way of leaving all— mostly economic—difficulties behind (14). With this heavily virtual life, Latino Muslim converts can easily be defined as an online community.

Although new converts gather for praying and other activities in mosques in almost every major city, this does not lead to much better intra-community communication among Muslims. The opportunities to spend time together are mostly limited, as many of them come to the mosque only for Friday prayers.

One should also note that as the Latino culture is very dominant and all comprehensive, therefore, none of the converts could easily transform herself/himself totally to reach a level at which they could reject their cultural influences. This further makes them more difficult to be targeted as prey for ISIS despite their heavy use of social space.

The apolitical stance of new Muslims

After converting to Islam Latino Muslims face the danger of disconnecting from the political and social realities of their own countries (15). That is because most of the converts enter an emotional period in their sensibilities whereas if they live in a different world where they mostly interact with only Muslim converts and share time with them. Unless something touches them directly, they show little interest in political and economic issues.

This apolitical way of looking at the world remains the biggest obstacle for any politically motivated radical group like ISIS to penetrate their world. Therefore, the extremely low participation from Latin America in groups like ISIS may not be only explained by the geographical distance, but also by the apolitical stance.

Sufism

The other aspect that keeps Latino converts away from radicalization is their inclination toward the Sufi tradition. Sufi tradition refers to the love of humanity, peaceful co-existence and a soft interpretation of Islam as a way of living. Sufism in Latin America has a long history of presence (16) and Sufis are generally considered apolitical.

Politics of Latin American Countries toward the Middle East

Latin American countries are not members of the Western military alliances that have been directly involved in the Middle East. Many Latin American governments are sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and feel certain uneasiness with the policies of Israel (17).

Beside, anti-Americanism or anti-Westernism has always had a resonance in Latin America. Since the Second World War, the Americans have supported military coup d’états; repressive regimes. Therefore, the Continent has never considered the US a credible partner. Opposition movements from radical to the socialist left in the continent calumniated their politics mostly based on rejecting American policies. Consequently, radical groups such as Al Qaeda/ISIS would unlikely to target Latin America.

Visible but integrated with their communities

Many immigrants feel second-class citizens in Europe and face Islamophobic reactions from their society. This, in turn, creates a feeling of self-alienation from the country where they live and pushes them to find different alternatives in their lives. In this context, immigrants in Europe can be easily captured by the powerful and “attractive” discourse of ISIS (18, 19).

In Latin America, Arab Muslims feel much safer than in their home countries in the Middle East under dictatorial and exclusivist governments. Today both the immigrants from the Middle East and their descendants are not only fully integrated into the society and culture, but also they are prominent. For example, the Mexican businessman Carlos Slim Helu has the distinction of being the richest person alive.

Also, several people of Arab descent have held the presidency in their countries, including Carlos Menem in Argentina, Abdala Bucaram in Ecuador and Carlos Roberto Flores in Honduras, to mention only a few (20).

Although Los Turcos maintain varying degrees of ethnic identity, they are also very much citizens of their Latin American countries. In that sense, Muslims in Latin America are adding to their societies. For example, Ecuador would not be the same without the people of Arab descent. They are a tiny minority but their roles in politics, economy and culture are immense. Their last names, such as Bucaram, Turbay, Menem, etc., have become so normal in the country that people do not even regard them as foreign compared to Spanish surnames.

One can even come across women wearing the hijab in major cities of the continent, but so far there is almost zero radicalism observed (21). Therefore, Muslims in Latin America continue to feel part of the society and this element prevents Latinos from joining ISIS.

Why is the increasing talk about ISIS threat in Latin America?

Although there is very little imminent danger of ISIS in Latin America, there is still an increasing talk about the potential threat of ISIS (22). In November 2015, ISIS threatened 60 countries for being part of an anti-ISIS coalition. Among the list of countries, there was only one Latin American country, Mexico. This has alerted Mexicans for a while and there have been talks about the possible danger of Mexican border being used by ISIS to infiltrate into the US (23).

So far there has not been a single ISIS cell discovered in Mexico. The talk about the threats of ISIS on Mexico US borders has made life more difficult for Latinos in the US, considering the anti-immigration rhetoric of the US President, Donald Trump (24). There is little evidence or intelligence to support the idea that ISIS is operating in Mexico or that loyalists are infiltrating the southern border. However, regardless of the truth of the story, Latinos face increasing entanglement in the criminal justice system and increasing status as second class citizens (25).

Since the attack on American soil on September 11, 2001, some right-wing and sensationalist media along with conservative US politicians have been warning of the presence of Al-Qaeda cells in Latin American countries (26). Many media outlets continued arguing that South American drugs gangs are providing millions of pounds of funding for al Qaeda terrorists by paying them to ensure the safe passage of cocaine across North Africa and toward Europe (27), however, all that is without any evidence. Most of the so-called experts on Al-Qaeda terrorism in Latin America were either alarmed by the much-talked-about Hezbollah activities in various countries in the continent (28). However, Hezbollah activities in Latin America should always be contextualized in a general Iranian foreign policy toward Latin America.

Today, major media outlets claim that ISIS cells are operating on the US-Mexico border or collaborating with Latin American criminal organizations (29). Indeed, this again is just a repeat of what has previously happened with al-Qaeda and as argued, before, there is no solid proof for direct terrorist activities in the region (30-33).

Despite these baseless allegations about ISIS threat in the continent, Latin America presents a very low danger for any type of terrorist attack—and perhaps it is the safest continent concerning ISIS.

However, it should be mentioned that these claims by the media may serve to harm the safety of Muslims in the continent and create an environment where people see them as a potential danger. So far none of the Latin American countries has taken these claims seriously to prosecute Muslims, nor put them under surveillance or observation.

Conclusion

Some Latino Muslims still enjoy family, language and cultural connection with the Middle East, from where their ancestors immigrated. However, today there is a growing Latino Muslim community without any connection to the Middle East except for spiritual, romantic and religious beliefs. Therefore, their main interest in the Middle East is far from violence.

Although ISIS is known for using online recruitment strategies to attract young people to their cause, and although, Latino Muslims use online spaces extensively, there is no indication that they are being attracted by the demagogy of ISIS.

The increasing false media campaigns about ISIS’ activities in Latin America serve the aim of ISIS and creates an environment where ISIS propaganda gets disseminated without its actual presence in the continent.

NOTES
  1. Massimo Di Ricco, “Don’t Look for Latin American Jihadis – Yet”, Al Jazeera, 19 April 2015, http:// www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2015/03/don-jihadi-jose-150330072341180.html (accessed 20 April 2017).
  2. The Soufan Group, Foreign Fighters: An Updated Assessment of the Flow of Foreign Fighters into Syria and Iraq, December 2015, p. http://soufangroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/TSG_ ForeignFightersUpdate3.pdf (accessed 25 May 2017).
  3. Ibid, p. 4. Depending on the sources one takes, the number may vary on the number of the total European foreign terrorist fighters. For example, according to International Center for Counter Terrorism, ICCT of Netherland, European foreign terrorist fighters are estimated between 3922 and 4294. See Bibi Van Ginkel and Eva Entenmann, eds., “The Foreign Fighters Phenomenon in the European Union. Profiles, Threats & Policies”, The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague, Vol. 7, No 2, 2016, p. 4.
  4. The Soufan Group, Foreign Fighters, op. cit., p. 4.
  5. Ibid., pp. 7–9.
  6. An interesting research on their social media presence and connection with wider Muslim world, see Diana Carolina Zuniga Gomez, Latino Muslims Communities Online Presence: Sense of Virtual Community in Facebook Spaces, MA Thesis, Eskisehir: Anadolu University, 2016.
  7. “Árabes y musulmanes en América Latina” BBC Mundo, 15 March 2005, http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/ spanish/specials/newsid_4294000/4294241.stm (accessed 8 September 2016).
  8. This is the estimation of Sheikhs of various mosques in various countries.
  9. ‘Los Turcos’ was the name given to Arab immigrants from the Levant, many of whom arrived on Turkish passports after the First World War to Latin America.
  10. Thisis basedon personalobservationandcommunicationwithLatinoconverts inColombiain 2016.
  11. That is why some of the Muslim Latino converts, after returning to their own countries from the Muslim countries, try to put a distance between themselves and Islam. This does not mean that they are leaving Islam, however, they return with a total shock that it takes them to handle it. What perhaps is the main reason for this is that Latino Muslims usually confuse religion with culture. They mostly think that Muslim countries live in the same way as Islam asked for, without even thinkingthateachMuslimcountryhasitsownstrongcultureandwiththatcomesaninterpretationofIslam in social life.
  12. Diana Carolina Zuniga Gomez, Latino Muslims Communities, op. cit.,
  13. Ibid.
  14. Personal conversation with Latino Muslims who have shared their personal stories honestly.
  15. Personal conversation with Latino converts.
  16. For more on Yakzan Hugo Valdez, see http://remembrance.sufipaths.net/?page_id=1025 (accessed 1 March 2017).
  17. For a comprehensive study on Latin American countries foreign policy toward the Middle East, see Marta Tawil Kuri (Ed), Latin American Foreign Policies towards the Middle East: Actors, Contexts, and Trends, New York: Palgrave Macmillan , 2016.
  18. See Ashley Kirk, “Iraq and Syria: How Many Foreign Fighters are Fighting for Isil?”, The Telegraph, 24 March 2016.
  19. For more on this issue see, Tuncay Kardas and Omer Behram Ozdemir, The Making of European Foreign Fighters, Ankara: SETA Analysis, No 11, October 2014; Necati Anaz, Omer Aslan and Mehmet Ozkan, “Turkish Foreign Terrorist Fighters and the Emergence of a New Kind of Radicalization”, Turkish Studies, Vol. 17, No. 4, 2016, pp. 618–642.
  20. Aaron Moore and Kent Mathewson, “Latin America’s Los Turcos: Geographic Aspects of Levantine and Maghreb Diasporas”, Nóesis: Revista de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades, Vol. 22, No. 43, 2013, pp. 290–308.
  21. There is no comprehensive study on this, however, judging from several countries, there is almost no discrimination in the continent on being Muslim. Argentina, for example, is home to one of the Latin America’s largest Muslim communities in the continent and there is no such an incident reported. See Vincent Lofaso, Argentina’s Muslim Minority, Council of Hemispheric Affairs (COHA),13 December 2016, http://www.coha.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/ArgentinasMuslimMinorityArticle-1.pdf (accessed 16 April 2017).
  22. As it is not a surprise, FOX News television channel in U.S. is reporting on this issue in an alarming style. See, Jason Kopp, “As Islamic Extremism Grows in Latin America, Some Want Trump to Take Action”, Fox News, 31 March 2017, http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/03/31/as-islamic-extremistgrows-in-latin-america-some-want-trump-to-take-action.html Accessed on 16/04/2107; and “Spain Says ISIS Raising Funds in Latin America to Attack Us: Islamic Terrorists are Collecting Money in Latin America to Attack the United States”, InfoWars, 29 December 2016, https://www. infowars.com/breaking-spain-says-isis-raising-funds-in-latin-america-to-attack-us/ (accessed 16 April 2017).
  23. See Michael S. Schmidt, “U.S. Pushes Back Against Warnings That ISIS Plans to Enter From Mexico”, The New York Times, 15 September 2014, https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/16/us/uspushes-back-against-warnings-that-isis-plans-to-enter-from-mexico.html?_r=0 (accessed 25 April 2017); and Leo Hohmann, “Islamic Terror Cells Shift from Mideast to U.S.-Mexican Border”, WND, 1 May 2017, http://www.wnd.com/2017/01/islamic-terror-cells-shift-from-mideast-to-u-smexican-border/ (accessed 20 June 2017).
  24. If considered together with the policy of building wall on the border, the claims that ISIS will attack the US by using US-Mexico border is just playing into the hands of Donald Trump’s discourse and creating a double fear concerning the border.
  25. Spearlt, “ISIS, Latinos & the Brunt of Border Politics”, The Huffington Post, 10 October 2014, http:// www.huffingtonpost.com/spearit/isis-latinos-the-brunt-of_b_5956094.html (accessed 20 June 2017).
  26. Muslims in Latin America have sometimes been subject to Western media’s biased and faulty inferences as a result of global trend. For a study on Argentina, see Fatima Rajina, “Islam in Argentina: Deconstructing the Biases”, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Vol. 36, No. 3, 2016, pp. 399–412.
  27. For example, see, “South American Drug Gangs Funding al-Qaeda Terrorists”, The Telegraph, 29 December 2010, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/colombia/8230134/ South-American-drug-gangs-funding-al-Qaeda-terrorists.html (accessed 25 June 2017).
  28. Since the 1994 bombing in Buenos Aires, there is a growing talk about Hezbollah activities in Latin America. Although many of the literature tend to treat Hezbollah activities in the continent as a separate terrorist group activity, this is not really correct. Hezbollah activities in Latin America should always be contextualized in a general Iranian foreign policy toward Latin America. Only then, one can make a meaningful analysis of where and what types of activities have been pursued by Hezbollah inthecontinentand,forwhataim.ForHezbollahactivitiesinLatinAmerica,seePauloBotta,Ladoble cara de Hezbollah en América Latina, CEMOC, 2010, pp. 3–4. https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/121126/ 2010_07_LaDobleCara.pdf (accessed 20 June 2017). (20 Ocak 2017); and Matthew Levitt, “Iranian and Hizbollah Operations in South America: Then and Now”, PRISM, Vol. 5, No. 4, 2015, pp. 119–132.
  29. See Michael S. Schmidt, “U.S. Pushes Back Against Warnings That ISIS Plans to Enter From Mexico”, The New York Times, 15 September 2014, https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/16/us/uspushes-back-against-warnings-that-isis-plans-to-enter-from-mexico.html?_r=0. (accessed 18 April 2017).
  30. See Massimo Di Ricco, “Don’t look for Latin American jihadis – yet”, Al Jazeera, 19 April 2015, http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2015/03/don-jihadi-jose-150330072341180.html (accessed 18 April 2017); and Murad Batal Al-Shishani, “Is al-Qaeda Seeking Allies in Latin America?”, Terrorism Focus, Vol. 5, No. 37, 2008, https://jamestown.org/program/is-al-qaedaseeking-allies-in-latin-america/ (Accessed 18 April 2017).
  31. Leonardo Pedraza, “Combatientes Latinoamericanos En Isis: Los Yihadistas Exóticos”, 28 June, 2015, https://temporadasoez.com/2015/06/28/combatientes-latinoamericanos-en-isis-los-yihadistasexoticos/ (accessed 30 May 2017).
  32. “SOUTHCOM: ‘Hundreds’ in Latin America, Caribbean Have Joined Islamic State”, 21 March 2016, http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2016/03/21/isis-sees-recruitment-success-in-latinamerica/ (accessed 28 April 2017).
  33. Frances Robles, “Trying to Stanch Trinidad’s Flow of Young Recruits to ISIS”, 21 February 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/21/world/americas/trying-to-stanch-trinidads-flow-of-youngrecruits-to-isis.html (accessed 28 April 2017).

 

Mehmet Ozkan is Associate Professor at the Turkish National Police Academy, Ankara, Turkey & Director for Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) in Bogota, Colombia.

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