HR4531-119

In Committee

BANNED in Latin America Act

119th Congress Introduced Jul 17, 2025

Summary

What This Bill Does

The BANNED in Latin America Act directs the Secretary of State to submit a comprehensive strategy within 180 days to the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The strategy must counter Iran's and Hezbollah's propaganda, missionary networks, and influence operations in Latin America. Required elements include diplomatic, sanctions, and public-diplomacy measures targeting Iranian cultural centers that promote Iranian ideology; visa denials, sanctions, or other travel restrictions on Iranian emissaries, diplomats, cultural attaches, and agents facilitating propaganda, radicalization, or terror-support networks; strengthened U.S. intelligence capacity to identify, monitor, and disrupt Iranian and Hezbollah networks, including cooperation with academic institutions and nongovernmental organizations; actions similar to those used against Al-Manar and Press TV to disrupt HispanTV and Al Mayadeen Espanol through sanctions, designations, and regional cooperation; and a plan addressing Al Mustafa International University and affiliated entities, including possible foreign terrorist organization or specially designated global terrorist designations where appropriate. The strategy must be unclassified but may include a classified annex.

Who Benefits and How

House Foreign Affairs Committee members benefit from a required strategy on Iranian and Hezbollah influence operations in Latin America. Senate Foreign Relations Committee members benefit from the same 180-day reporting requirement. U.S. intelligence agencies benefit from a framework to identify, monitor, and disrupt Iranian and Hezbollah networks in the region. Latin American partners concerned about Hezbollah influence benefit from U.S. public diplomacy, sanctions, travel restrictions, and regional cooperation.

Who Bears the Burden and How

The Secretary of State must prepare and transmit the comprehensive strategy within 180 days. Iranian cultural centers in Latin America may face diplomatic limits, sanctions, and public-diplomacy exposure. Iranian emissaries and cultural attaches may face visa denials, sanctions, or other travel restrictions. HispanTV, Al Mayadeen Espanol, and Al Mustafa International University networks face possible disruption, sanctions, designations, or regional constraints.

Key Provisions

  • Requires a State Department strategy within 180 days to counter Iranian and Hezbollah propaganda, missionary networks, and influence operations in Latin America.
  • Directs measures against Iranian cultural centers, including diplomatic limits, sanctions, and public diplomacy.
  • Requires travel restrictions or sanctions options for Iranian emissaries, diplomats, cultural attaches, and agents.
  • Requires disruption frameworks for HispanTV, Al Mayadeen Espanol, and Al Mustafa International University networks.
  • Provides unclassified transmission with an optional classified annex.

Evidence Chain:

This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.

At a Glance

What This Bill Does

Requires a 180-day State Department strategy to counter Iranian and Hezbollah propaganda, missionary networks, cultural centers, emissaries, academic networks, and media platforms in Latin America, with unclassified transmission and optional classified annex.

Key Policy Areas

Foreign Affairs, Iran, Latin America

Primary Purpose

Requires a 180-day State Department strategy to counter Iranian and Hezbollah propaganda, missionary networks, cultural centers, emissaries, academic networks, and media platforms in Latin America, with unclassified transmission and optional classified annex.

Policy Domains

Foreign Affairs Iran Latin America

Resolution provisions

Identified Gains
  • House Foreign Affairs Committee
  • Senate Foreign Relations Committee
  • U.S. intelligence agencies
  • Latin American partners concerned about Hezbollah influence
Model: codex-gpt-5 | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: ih
U.S. intelligence agencies:
House Foreign Affairs Committee:
Senate Foreign Relations Committee:
Latin American partners concerned about Hezbollah influence:
Identified Costs
  • Secretary of State
  • Iranian cultural centers in Latin America
  • Iranian emissaries
  • HispanTV
  • Al Mustafa International University networks
Model: codex-gpt-5 | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: ih
HispanTV:
Iranian emissaries:
Secretary of State:
Iranian cultural centers in Latin America:
Al Mustafa International University networks:

Legislative Progress

In Committee
Introduced Committee Passed
Jul 17, 2025

Mr. Shreve (for himself, Mr. Gottheimer, Mr. Huizenga, Ms. Salazar, …

Jul 17, 2025

Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Jul 17, 2025

Introduced in House

Stakeholder Effects

cui bono?

How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.

Congress
2 mentions across 1 clause
?2 uncertain

House Foreign Affairs Committee, Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Government
2 mentions across 1 clause
-1 negative ?1 uncertain

Secretary of State, U.S. intelligence agencies

Foreign Affairs
1 mention across 1 clause
?1 uncertain

Iranian cultural centers in Latin America

Media & Entertainment
1 mention across 1 clause
?1 uncertain

HispanTV

1/2
sections analyzed
Full impact breakdown

Bill Structure & Actor Mappings

Who is "The Secretary" in each section?

Domains
Foreign Affairs Iran Latin America

We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.

Learn more about our methodology