What Happened
A court in Argentina has ruled that Iran was the intellectual author of the 1994 AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires, a deadlier attack that killed 85 people and remains one of the most significant terror cases in Latin America. The decision has renewed attention in Panama because it echoes questions that have surrounded the explosion of Alas Chiricanas flight 901 one day later.
On July 19, 1994, the HP-1202AC aircraft exploded minutes after takeoff from the Enrique A. Jiménez airport in Colón, killing all 21 people on board. Among the passengers was the alleged terrorist linked to the case. The flight was traveling mainly with businesspeople from the Colón Free Zone and was headed to Panama City.
Why the Panama Case Still Matters
For years, Panamanian investigators considered two main theories: that the bombing was tied to Colombian drug cartels or that it was a terrorist attack carried out by an extremist Islamic group. The case stalled and was closed, but it never disappeared from public memory because of the nature of the attack and the international profile of the victims.
Passengers on the flight included citizens of Panama, Israel, the United States, and Colombia. The tragedy became one of the country’s most troubling unresolved cases and a reminder of the limits Panama faced at the time in investigating attacks with possible international links.
Investigation Reopened
In August 2019, prosecutors asked the Superior Court to reopen the investigation after then-President Juan Carlos Varela received a letter from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in November 2017. In that letter, Netanyahu said Israeli intelligence had confirmed that Hizbulá was behind the attack.
In 2020, the FBI issued a wanted notice for Ali Zaki Jalil as a person who could have information about the bombing. The most recent step came on August 22, 2023, when the Superior Court of the First Judicial District authorized the Public Ministry to extend the inquiry until the investigation is exhausted.
Broader Regional Context
Juan Antonio Tejada, who served as first superior prosecutor between 1995 and 2001 and took over after the initial work in Colón, said Panama had little experience with cases of this type and needed international cooperation to move them forward. He noted that Argentina had already been investigating the 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, which killed 22 people.
Tejada said it is important that Panama’s Public Ministry was allowed to continue investigating until the case is fully exhausted. He added that in both countries, the pain of the victims’ families has lasted for decades.
The Argentine ruling has revived discussion of terror-linked attacks in the region and the long pursuit of accountability in two cases that continue to shape how Panama and Argentina view security, memory, and justice.