Posted on YouTube: October 12, 2023
This video can be auto-translated.
A German news site, Deutsche Welle, examines Brazil’s stand on the Gaza War.
The video above gives a good, short history of Brazil’s relationship with Israel.
Like the United States, Brazil is very divided.
The government is presently run by a center-left president (Lulu), who would probably lean to a more pro-Palestinian position. However, 31% of the population is Evangelical Christian and they swing Zionist.
The former president, Bolsonaro, was very pro-Israel, and got baptized into the Evangelical church in the Jordan River.
Bolsonaro, was raised Catholic and baptized in the Jordan River by an evangelical pastor during a visit to Israel prior to his 2018 election, as part of a broader effort to boost his appeal among the key religious bloc.
While a lot of Latin America is condemning Israel for the war in Gaza, Argentina has just elected a president who converted to Judaism, and is a fan of Israel.
Talk about contrasts.
So, the Jews of Latin America are holding their Maccabi games in Argentina.
(JTA) — With the Pan American Maccabi Games set to begin in Argentina next week, an Israeli delegation of more than 200 athletes was planning to join 5,000 Jewish participants from across the world who will compete in 30 sports.
But, as with practically every facet of Israeli society, Oct. 7 changed their plans.
Now a pared down group of 74 Israeli athletes will head to Argentina for the 15th edition of the international tournament. Forty-five of them live in communities close to the Gaza Strip, the area attacked on Oct. 7, according to a press release from the Maccabi World Union, the global governing body that puts on the quadrennial Maccabiah Games in Israel and other international tournaments.
What this means is that Latin America is split in its sympathies. Indeed, even countries are split in their sympathies.
Javier Milei is considered Argentina’s version of Donald Trump. He is very right wing, and very pro-Zionist. He plans to move the Argentina Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
And this election took place in the middle of the 2023 Gaza War?!
Though there are more Arabs in Argentina than Jews, but the Jewish demographic is not small (for a Latin American nation) and still very influential, while the Arab demographics in Argentina tilt to the pro-Western Lebanese Maronite (Catholic) stock. This would not have happened in Chile, where the Arab demographic tilts towards the Palestinian stock.
Iran’s influence is continuing to grow, not only in the support of Hezbollah operatives, but especially through the netcasting and broadcasting of HispanTV, which sends out Iranian propaganda to the continent. And Iran assists the dictatorial regime in Venezuela.
WASHINGTON —
Iran is striving to expand its influence in fellow U.S. adversary Venezuela, which is hosting an Iranian cultural fair this week and seeking Iranian assistance to revive the ailing Venezuelan energy industry.
Iran is troublemaking in the Western Hemisphere, particularly in this area of propaganda.
Whatever one thinks of pro-Jewish or pro-Israel lobbies in the United States, they are an antidote to some really ugly antisemitic disinformation out there. Indeed, Latin America is often drenched with anti-Israel agitprop that would not have been tolerated in the USA, until recently, which is a sad commentary on recent developments.
The anti-Israel indoctrination that America is sadly seeing now, Latin America has been drenched with for a long time.
Yet, oddly, Iran’s influence is more political than religious.
Why not religious?
Because Islam is being countered in Latin America – not by Jewish influence, as the Jewish population is usually small – but rather by a large and growing Evangelical Christian movement.
In Brazil, the population is 31% Evangelical.
In El Salvador, the population is 40% Evangelical — more than Catholics.
In Guatemala, the population is 40% Evangelical.
In Honduras, the population is 40% Evangelical.
In Chile, the population is 18% Evangelical.
In Argentina, the population is 15% Evangelical.
These Evangelicals tend to be very pro-Zionist.
So Iran’s influence is limited to the political arena, which is scary enough, though even in politics, the Evangelical church is competing successfully.
In the case of Chile and Brazil, the growing Evangelical power base has not stopped the governments from criticizing Israel, but it will prevent some of the Latin governments from going too far.
In one nation, Guatemala, the Evangelicals have made the country very friendly to Israel.
Posted on YouTube: February 18, 2022
El Salvador is particularly interesting, as it has an influential Palestinian (chiefly Christian) minority population. The Palestinian Christians tend to be more Catholic or Eastern Orthodox, though.
