Antisemitism in Venezuela
[1] However, under the presidencies of both Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, allegations of antisemitism grew following actions and statements by the Venezuelan government, while also occurring in public incidents.
[1] As they claimed Dutch citizenship, the consul-general for the Netherlands, Van Lansberge, informed the home government, and three war ships were sent to La Guaira, the principal seaport of Venezuela, and the redress demanded was at once granted.
The Venezuelan government agreed to salute the Dutch flag; to restore to the Jews their property; and to pay an indemnity of 200,000 pesos ($160,000), the last clause being carried into effect in 1859, after lengthy diplomatic negotiations with the ambassador of the Netherlands, Jhr.
[11] Assimilation of Jews in Venezuela was difficult, though small communities could be found in Puerto Cabello, Maracaibo, Villa de Cura, San Cristobal, Barcelona, Carupano, Rio Chico, and Barquisimeto.
[1] In response to rising political tension between the Netherlands and Venezuela, in March 1902, compelled the Jews of Coro again to seek an asylum in Curaçao, tendered to them by the governor of the island, Jhr.
J. O. de Jong van Beek en Doorn, who, upon learning the facts, dispatched the Dutch warship HNLMS Koningin Regentes to protect them.
In July following, the same vessel and the HNLMS Utrecht were sent to La Vela de Coro for the remainder, and only a few Jewish residents remained behind to protect the property of the exiles.
[9] In 2007, it was reported that emigration had resulted in a drop of almost 20% of Venezuela's 20,000 strong Jewish population[17][failed verification] amid concerns of rising allegations of antisemitism.
[19] In its 2002 report, the Stephen Roth Institute said a Venezuelan journalist in the U.S., Ted Cordova-Claure, "published an article in the privately owned, pro-democracy Tal Cual equating Sharon and Hitler".
[20][21] The Roth Institute also said that Frontera journalist Alfredo Hernandez Torres justified suicide bomb attacks against Israel, saying that "Sharon displays more hate than the Nazis had for the Jews."
[20] According to the Roth Institute, when Últimas Noticias interviewed Lebanese-Venezuelan[22] politician and Fifth Republic Movement leader Tarek William Saab and Franklin González, director of the School of International Studies at the Central University of Venezuela, both bemoaned that the United Nations had disappointed Palestinians, and that "the roots of the conflict lay in the creation of the State of Israel, in 1947".
"[3] The Roth Institute says that the Jewish community in Venezuela explains that the phrase 'wandering Jews' "was directed metaphorically at the leaders of the opposition parties" and is a common term in the Catholic world.
Vice President José Vicente Rangel explained the meaning of the term the next day, and assured Jewish community leaders that it had been used inappropriately.
[29][30] According to an article published at Forward.com, Venezuelan Jewish community leaders accused the Simon Wiesenthal Center of rushing to judgment with the antisemitic remarks, saying that Chávez's comments had been taken out of context, and that he was actually referring to "gentile business elites" or the "white oligarchy that has dominated the region since the colonial era".
Holocaust denier Ceresole calls the Jews of Venezuela the greatest threat to Chavismo in his Caudillo, Ejército, Pueblo (Leader, Army, People).
The southern area director of the ADL accused Chávez of "distorting history and torturing the truth, as he has done in this case, it is a dangerous exercise which echoes classic anti-Semitic themes".
Jewish-Venezuelan community leaders in Caracas told El Nuevo Herald that Chávez's statements have created a situation of "fear and discomfort ...
"[27] The Federation of Israeli Associations of Venezuela in 2006 condemned "attempts to trivialize the Holocaust, the premeditated and systematic extermination of millions of human beings solely because they were Jews ... by comparing it with the current war actions".
[27] The Wikileaks Cablegate in 2010 revealed that members of the CAIV had raised concerns with US diplomats regarding what they felt was the increasingly hostile environment created for Venezuelan by the government of President Hugo Chávez, saying they see a "dark horizon" for their community.
"While Chavez's rhetoric once clearly differentiated criticism of Israel from that of the Venezuelan Jewish community, since 2004 they believe he has merged his anti-Zionist views with anti-Semitic ones", US Political Counselor Robin D. Meyer quoted the leaders as saying.
[34] In January 2013, 50 documents were leaked by Analisis24 showing that SEBIN had been spying on "private information on prominent Venezuelan Jews, local Jewish organizations and Israeli diplomats in Latin America".
The leaked documents were believed to be authentic according to multiple sources which included the Anti-Defamation League, that stated, "It is chilling to read reports that the SEBIN received instructions to carry out clandestine surveillance operations against members of the Jewish community".
[35][36] The Roth Institute reported in 2002 that anti-Israel, Chávez supporters demonstrated wearing T-shirts with the inscriptions "Jerusalem will be ours" and "Israel out, solidarity with the Palestinian cause.
"[41] According to the Roth Institute, media analysts claimed the raid was "a way of threatening the Jewish community and was linked to the government's ties to Arab countries and radical Islamic states.
"[2][39] According to the Venezuelan Confederation of Israelite Associations (CAIV, Confederación de Asociaciones Israelitas de Venezuela), agents of the DISIP secret police agency conducted a pre-dawn raid on the Hebraic Social, Cultural and Sports Center (Centro Social Cultural y Deportivo Hebraica) the day of the 2007 constitutional referendum in which Chávez's proposed constitutional and term limit reforms were defeated.
[45] Days later, the Venezuelan foreign ministry called Israel's actions "state terrorism" and announced the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador and some of the embassy staff.
[53] According to Interior Minister Tarek El Aissami, anti-semitic vandalism had merely been a tactic, "First, to weaken the investigation, and second, to direct the blame toward the national government.
"[54][55] Shlomo Cohen, Israel's ambassador in Caracas received a call from the Venezuelan government on 6 February that all Israeli embassy staff had 72 hours to leave the country.
Consul Biran called for help from others in Buenos Aires, Panama, New York and Miami and on arrival, all of them were intercepted at the airport, held for 9 hours, then escorted to the embassy by Venezuelan army personnel.
[9][58] The Anti-Defamation League condemned the actions and reminded President Nicolas Maduro along with his government that he was "responsible for the safety and well-being of Venezuela’s Jewish community".
