The Minister of Security of Argentina, Patricia Bullrich , should have apologized to the Government of Chile for having assured that she had information about the presence of Hezbollah in the north of that country, as well as in Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru and Brazil.
From the trans-Andean country, the response from the authorities questioning Bullrich's statements was immediate. Consequently, the national official apologized in a telephone conversation and promised to hold a meeting next week.
Previously, the Minister of the Interior of Chile, Carolina Tohá , had brought peace of mind to her population and at the same time criticized the Argentine official. “When an authority has suspicion or history of sensitive issues in this matter, the channel to make those observations is through intelligence collaboration and police collaboration,” said Tohá, adding that “it is not through press outlets that intelligence issues are discussed.”
Likewise, he mentioned that "since these public statements were made, I want to say, so that the population has peace of mind, that our police and intelligence systems are always alert in this matter, it is not a situation that we are facing at this time and without prejudice of that, any movement of people is always being monitored.”
The president of Chile, Gabriel Boric , had also had harsh words against Bullrich : "I demand that the Argentine Minister of Security that if she has records that she hand them over and collaborate, but that she does not give such records to the 'tuntún' and the “quickly without trying anything at all.”
“I demand respect for our country. Chile does not protect any terrorist group, neither in its territory nor outside it - the president confirmed -. It seems to me that it is tremendously important that the authorities are responsible in their statements and affirmations,” he concluded.
The statements to the press that generated these repercussions were made by the Minister of Security, Patricia Bullrich , in dialogue with the TN channel. He had pointed out that "Argentina has suffered two attacks and is in an area where there is an active presence of two forces that are allied to Iran, which are Hezbollah that is on the triple border of Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina," adding that "also presence has been seen in Iquique, in the north of Chile, last year in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and a few weeks ago in Peru and last year two Hezbollah people were arrested in Sao Paulo.”
On the other hand, the reaction of the Bolivian authorities was similar to what happened in Chile, although without the apology from Bullrich. "We deny and emphatically reject that Bolivia protects on its borders people who spread terror, insecurity and anxiety," they said in a statement from the foreign ministry of the neighboring country . “These accusations lack evidence or documentation and are made without any basis.”
From the government of Luis Arce it was announced that they will seek to meet with Argentine representatives to obtain explanations for the statements about the presence of Iranian armed groups. The meeting would be with Lucas Ezequiel Demaría , representative of Argentina in La Paz, because there is currently no designated ambassador.
