I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5039 
To impose certain measures with respect to Hizballah-affected areas in Latin 
America and the Caribbean and to impose sanctions with respect to 
senior foreign political figures in Latin America who support Hizballah, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 13, 2021 
Mr. WILSON of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. VICENTE GONZALEZ of 
Texas, and Ms. SALAZAR) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Com-
mittees on Financial Services, and the Judiciary, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To impose certain measures with respect to Hizballah-af-
fected areas in Latin America and the Caribbean and 
to impose sanctions with respect to senior foreign polit-
ical figures in Latin America who support Hizballah, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hizballah in Latin 
America Accountability Act of 2021’’. 
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SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate con-
gressional committees’’ means— 
(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations 
and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 
Urban Affairs of the Senate; and 
(B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 
the Committee on Financial Services of the 
House of Representatives. 
(2) COVERED
COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘covered 
country’’ means any of the following: 
(A) Argentina. 
(B) Belize. 
(C) Bolivia. 
(D) Brazil. 
(E) Chile. 
(F) Colombia. 
(G) Cuba. 
(H) The Dominican Republic. 
(I) Ecuador. 
(J) Mexico. 
(K) Nicaragua. 
(L) Panama. 
(M) Paraguay. 
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(N) Peru. 
(O) Uruguay. 
(P) Venezuela. 
(3) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per-
son’’ has the meaning given the term in section 
101(d) of the Hizballah International Financing 
Prevention Act of 2015 (Public Law 114–102; 50 
U.S.C. 1701 note). 
(4) GOOD.—The term ‘‘good’’ means any arti-
cle, natural or man-made substance, material, supply 
or manufactured product, including inspection and 
test equipment, and excluding technical data. 
SEC. 3. REPORTING ON ILLICIT ACTIVITIES OF HIZBALLAH 
IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN. 
(a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of 
State, shall submit to the appropriate congressional com-
mittees a report on illicit activities of Hizballah in Latin 
America and the Caribbean that— 
(1) estimates— 
(A) the number of operatives acting on be-
half of the Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps 
and intelligence services in covered countries; 
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(B) the number of operatives acting on be-
half of Hizballah in covered countries and 
whether that number exceeds the number of 
such operatives last estimated by Mr. Roger F. 
Noriega in testimony before the Permanent Se-
lect Committee on Intelligence of the House of 
Representatives in July 2011; 
(C) how much of Hizballah’s annual budg-
et derives from illicit operations in covered 
countries; 
(D) the type of weapons that have been 
smuggled to drug trafficking organizations from 
Iran, Hizballah, or the Quds Force to Latin 
America and the Caribbean; and 
(E) the amount of resources the govern-
ments of Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, and 
Cuba are supplying to Iran to assist in the de-
velopment of Iran’s weapons of mass destruc-
tion programs; 
(2) describes— 
(A) recruiting efforts and modes of recruit-
ment by Hizballah, including the target audi-
ence of such efforts and the language used; and 
(B) how Hizballah and the Quds Force 
have advanced their tactics within the covered 
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countries in the 10 years preceding the date of 
the enactment of this Act; 
(3) identifies— 
(A) financial institutions in covered coun-
tries known to be operating on behalf or with 
ties to Hizballah or the Quds Force; and 
(B) officials of the governments of covered 
countries with financial or other ties to the 
Quds Force or members of Hizballah; and 
(4) assesses— 
(A) whether Margarita Island, the tri-bor-
der area between Argentina, Paraguay, and 
Brazil, or any other free trade zone is a head-
quarters for Hizballah; 
(B) the relationship between dissidents of 
the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia 
(commonly known as the ‘‘FARC’’) and mem-
bers of the National Liberation Army of Colom-
bia (commonly known as the ‘‘ELN’’) and 
Hizballah; 
(C) interagency efforts and progress in 
combatting illicit activities of Hizballah in cov-
ered countries; 
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(D) the actions of Hizballah in covered 
countries that violate or undermine internation-
ally recognized human rights; 
(E) the ability and efforts of the govern-
ment of each covered country to curb illicit ac-
tivities of Hizballah; and 
(F) the extent of the role of multilateral 
fora in efforts of the United States to counter 
the illicit activities of Hizballah. 
(b) BRIEFING REQUIRED.—Not later than 120 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of 
State, shall brief the appropriate congressional committees 
on how Hizballah uses cryptocurrency to conduct illicit ac-
tivities. 
(c) FORM OF REPORT.—The report required by sub-
section (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form but may 
include a classified annex. 
SEC. 4. EXPANSION OF TRADE TRANSPARENCY UNITS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu-
rity, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the 
Secretary of the Treasury, shall seek to improve— 
(1) the regional sharing of data among trade 
transparency units with respect to operations 
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against malign actors among covered countries with 
trade transparency units and the United States; and 
(2) cooperation with the Drug Enforcement Ad-
ministration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 
and other Federal agencies with respect to trade 
transparency units. 
(b) BRIEFING REQUIRED.—Not later than 120 days 
after date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of 
State and the Secretary of the Treasury, shall brief the 
appropriate congressional committees on— 
(1) the legal restrictions and limitations in each 
bilateral agreement between the United States and 
a covered country establishing a trade transparency 
unit that prevent the Department of Homeland Se-
curity and authorities in that country from oper-
ating to their fullest extent against malign actors; 
and 
(2) recommendations for legislative action to 
address those restrictions and limitations. 
SEC. 5. SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO SENIOR FOREIGN 
POLITICAL FIGURES IN LATIN AMERICA AND 
THE CARIBBEAN SUPPORTING HIZBALLAH. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall impose the 
sanctions described in section 101(b) of the Hizballah 
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