Paraguay steps up intelligence and financial controls in the Tri-Border Area amid Middle East tensions
Pereira said the focus is on tighter oversight of “illicit financing” and on preventing the “infiltration of extremist groups,” with counterterrorism and anti–money laundering efforts
Paraguay’s government has activated intelligence, prevention and financial-control measures in the Tri-Border Area it shares with Argentina and Brazil amid escalating tensions in the Middle East, according to Internal Security Vice Minister Óscar Pereira.
Pereira said the focus is on tighter oversight of “illicit financing” and on preventing the “infiltration of extremist groups,” with counterterrorism and anti–money laundering efforts at the center of the plan. He added that the measures include information-sharing and intelligence analysis coordinated with national and international bodies.
The vice minister voiced the Paraguayan administration’s “total support” for decisions taken by the United States in the confrontation with Iran, which he described as a “state that promotes terrorism,” according to ABC Color.
Operationally, Pereira said authorities have activated institutional mechanisms aimed at tracking “legal and illegal” money flows, citing Paraguay’s anti–money laundering secretariat Seprelad, the National Directorate of Tax Revenues (DNIT), the National Police and other agencies. He also pointed to the reactivation and expanded mandate of the Tripartite Command —the Paraguay-Argentina-Brazil coordination mechanism— to include tasks linked to counterterrorism and anti–money laundering work.
Pereira stressed the posture is preventive rather than punitive. “We do not have a specific operation under way; we are working to prevent situations of extremism,” he said. He acknowledged that working hypotheses include both potential extremist infiltration and recruitment dynamics tied to organized crime, and said the government has increased its active presence at sensitive locations.
He also said Paraguay maintains a policy of religious tolerance but that “tolerance has limits,” in reference to preventing radicalization and the emergence of extremist behavior.
Pereira further confirmed ongoing information exchanges with international agencies and highlighted an office that works directly with the FBI, staffed by Paraguayan police trained by the bureau and with access to analytical tools, the report said.
In earlier remarks carried by EFE, the vice minister had said Paraguay reinforced security around embassies and sites linked to the United States and Israel and that, in the Tri-Border Area, “all prevention mechanisms have been activated.”
