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The global hunt for Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaida terrorist network will push deep into several Latin American countries, challenging the security apparatus of the region and altering US-Latin American relations. Several countries in the region are known to house al-Qaida networks as well as other Islamic terrorist cells affiliated with Egypt's Jamaa Islamiyya, and the better known Hamas and Hezbollah. The September 11th attacks have brought intense pressure from the US on Latin American governments to cooperate in flushing out these rings. The resulting security measures implemented by Latin American governments will undoubtedly impede commerce and encumber the mobility of people and may also muffle civil liberties in some of the region's delicate democracies. Some argue that a concerted crackdown on terrorism in Latin America is long overdue. According to the U.S. State Department, Latin America experienced 193 terrorist attacks out of last year's world total of 4231.