Posted on YouTube: December 3, 2024
We return to Habib’s, which is Brazil’s fast food chain that specializes in Mideastern food. It has 475 outlets, most of them in Brazil. It is noted for good food and inexpensive prices.
And we have noted Habib’s in past posts (Click Here), but we thought that a more recent video with some taste tests would be interesting.
We Americans, sadly tend to think of Latin America as a monolithic culture. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The impression that I got in school – even in Spanish class, where I did NOT do so well – was that the countries primarily consisted of a European Spanish or Portuguese elite with a large mestizo class (Spanish + Indian blend). It was/is not that simple.
First, the word mestizo means mixed, and does NOT necessarily contain the derogatory wallop that a term like mulatto used to carry, and might carry still, in the USA. But then there is a subcategory called castizo which means only one-quarter Indian and three quarters European Spanish. That term, castizo, has fallen out of use.
But the racial lines in Latin America are not so clearly delineated. A person who is one-quarter Indian would usually be considered White.
Okay, that part you may have known.
BUT DID YOU KNOW THIS?
The largest ethnic group in Argentina is Italian, not Spanish. And half of those Italians are Northern Italians, not the Mediterranean complected Sicilians. Indeed, though Argentina speaks Spanish, the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area speaks Spanish. but with an Italian accent, and they often say Ciao instead of Adios.
Posted on YouTube: November 3, 2017
Indeed, in the early 20th century, so many Italians were leaving Italy for South America that Italy had to make emigration illegal. About 60% of Argentines have some degree of Italian ancestry, albeit not necessarily pure. Chile is roughly 3.5% Italian, but Uruguay is about 44% Italian in whole or part, while Brazil is about 15% Italian in whole or part.
And then there are the Germans. Somewhere between 6-10% of Argentines are German. The problem is that Germanic immigration started to Argentina before Germany was unified in 1871; and so were not properly registered as German. If you add in the German speaking Swiss, Austrians, and ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe, the number could go much higher.
Chile is about 2-1/2% German, with small Uruguay slightly over 1%; and Brazil comes in at 2.5%.
Of course, many are intermarried with other ethnicities now.
So NO, the German-Argentines are NOT all descended from those who fled to Argentina after WW 2. There had been a considerable amount of Germans in Argentina before the war, many of them had been there for generations; and some of the then newer German-Argentines had even fled Hitler in the 1930s. Those Nazis who fled after WW 2 were a relatively small group compared to the German-Argentine population and they only fled so they could hide.
Posted on YouTube: March 7, 2016
South Brazil is heavily German and Italian.
Further complicating the matter is that many of the Spanish immigrants to South America were not Spanish, but rather Basque and Galicians, who technically are not ethnic Spaniards, but come from the Whiter regions of Northern Spain.
Okay, you say, so Argentina is relatively White. Well, the same is true of some other Latin Countries. Costa Rica is heavily European White; with two-thirds identifying as White.
Chile has a considerable British population (about 3.5%).
To further add confusion to the mix, a large amount of South America’s founding fathers were from the British Isles.
Bernardo O’Higgins – half Irish, founding father of Chile.
Admiral Cochrane – Scottish, father of Chilean Navy
Admiral Willian Brown – Irish, founder of Argentine Navy
And not just these. A lot of mercenaries from Britan and Ireland fought in South America’s patriot armies.
Posted on YouTube: April 7, 2009
Today, between 1% to 2%, over a half million, of Argentines are Irish in whole or part.
Uruguay has over 10% French ancestry in whole or part, while Chile is roughly 4% French in ancestry, with Argentina having a whopping 17% French ancestry in whole or part.
Ukrainians, in whole or part, are roughly 3.5% of Argentina’s population.
The Croatians settled large parts of Chile and Argentina.
Posted on YouTube: December 15, 2017
The current president of Argentina, Javier Milei, is of Croatian and Italian ancestry. A former president of Argentina, Nestor Kirchner, was of Croatian and Swiss-German ancestry.
Okay, you say, but one does NOT normally see this in Mexico.
Well, most of Mexico and most of Central America is mestizo to be sure. But that is not true of all of Latin America. And even Mexico has some Germans and Arabs.
However, as so common in demographics, Wikipedia (2025) lists more Lebanese-Mexicans than Arab-Mexicans, which is ridiculous. This is a nightmare for historians and demographers, often caused by Lebanese Maronite Christians who refuse to consider themselves Arabs.
Large sections of South America, the southern tip (called the Southern Cone of South America) – Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, and South Brazil – are very White, albeit with a looser definition of white. Being one half Indian may not necessarily disqualify a person. Then general rule is: if you are more than half white, you can be considered white. However, I have known a green-eyed Chilean who was majority White in ancestry, and called herself mestiza. South America does have a racial divide, but it is not so sharp as it was historically in the United States.
It could be argued that Argentina is whiter than the USA, except that American Whites are more Northern European in ancestry and usually pure White. Argentina does have Northern European Whites, but most Argentines are Mediterranean in ancestry, and half of Argentine Whites have some degree (small or large) of non-White (usually Indian) ancestry.
BTW: Some Latin Americans often prefer the term indigenes (Indigenous) to Indian, as they sometimes treat the term indio (Indian) as derogatory.
Brazil is about 1% Japanese, with a smaller concentration in Argentina.
Essentially, ethnically, Argentina is similar to the United States, only with the proportions of each ethnic group varying.
Religiously, another difference between the USA and Latin America used to be religion, with the USA being majority Protestant and Latin America being majority Catholic.
Forget that, now! Evangelical Christianity has made massive inroads into Latin America, with Brazil about one-third Evangelical and growing. In some Central American countries, Evangelicals are approaching or now outnumber Catholics in percentages.
As for Jews, America has more Jews by percentage than Latin America, but Argentina still has a massive number of Jews, and has the seventh largest community of Jews in the world. At one time, the percentage of Jews in Argentina rivalled that of the USA.
The Jews have had a massive effect on the Argentine nation to this day.
Posted on YouTube: July 10, 2024
Jews made an important contribution to the development of tango.
Unfortunately – and beyond the scope of this post – anti-Black discrimination is still strong in sections of Latin America, particularly Argentina.
So, if you thought that so many Arabs going to Latin America was that unbelievable, think again. Latin America is more of a melting pot than you probably realized.
This is a few months old, and frankly, it is a bit of grandstanding, but I just found it, and thought it was worth mentioning.
Rightly or wrongly, Palestine is now being destroyed, even as we speak. Like it or not, that is fact. Yet, Lula of Brazil wants a FREE TRADE agreement with the Palestinians?
Posted on YouTube: July 8, 2024
Is he crazy? One-third of Brazil is Evangelical Christian and very pro-Israel. What was he thinking? Indeed, his election to office was suspicious. His opponent, Bolsonaro, was a strong Zionist.
Source: Brazil adopts free trade with Palestinian Authority in show of support
Updated July 09, 2024BRASILIA – Brazil has put into effect a free trade agreement with the Palestinian Authority that has been waiting for ratification for more than decade, in a show of support for the Palestinian people.
“The agreement is a concrete contribution to an economically viable Palestinian state, which can live peacefully and harmoniously with its neighbours,” Brazil’s Foreign Ministry said on July 9 in a statement.
…
Palestinian ambassador in Brasilia, Mr Ibrahim Al Zeben, called Brazil’s decision “courageous, supportive and timely”.
…
Sometimes you just read things like this and cannot believe that such policies are enacted.
What will Palestine export to Brazil: Dust from cinderblocks shattered by Israeli munitions?
Will Brazil now enact free trade with the Confederacy?
Posted on YouTube: July 15, 2024
One may hold the very erroneous idea that the Arabs in Latin America have a unified culture and presence.
Dispense with that idiocy right now.
The most outstanding group in this mix are the Maronites of Lebanon.
The Maronites of Lebanon are a group of Christian Arabs who are members of the Maronite Church – which is affiliated with Roman Catholicism – though the Maronite Church allows married men to become priests. The Maronites do not even consider themselves to be Arab.
As the Canadian-American scholar, T.B. Irving, noted:
Source Islamic Renewal in Iberia and Latin America: Its Needs and Preconditions T.B. Irving 1981
a lecture delivered at the University of Brasilia[T]he Christian Lebanese immigrants to South America… owe much to their over‑all Arab heritage, even though many of them try to call themselves “Phoenicians”.
They Maronites feel this way, even though the Maronites in Lebanon speak Arabic, and live in an Arab culture. This attitude is a product of centuries of persecution at the hands of Muslims. Sadly, the Maronites were nearly genocided in the 19th century at the hands or rampaging Muslims, and many Maronites have a distrust of Islam.
Rather, the Maronites of Lebanon consider themselves to be the descendants of ancient Phoenicians, and will identity themselves as such.
If you know your history, the ancient Phoenicians sailed west and planted colonies in Sicily, Spain, North Africa, Corsica, Sardinia, and and possibly the British Isles.
In simple terms, the Phoenicians always looked westward, and the Maronites, likewise, looked to Europe for their inspiration, not the Arab world. The other Arabs considered the Maronites as a fifth column in their ranks. The Maronites may have seen themselves as Western-looking Phoenicians, but the Muslims in Lebanon saw themselves as Arab. This became a point of hostility between the two groups.
Today, the vast majority of Lebanese Maronites live in the Western Hemisphere. They affiliate with (Western) Roman Catholicism, not the Eastern Orthodox nor the Syrian Christian faiths.
Given that Roman Catholicism is a Western denomination, and that many Maronites have a degree of European (Roman, Greek, etc.) ancestry, the Maronites could pass for Latin whites, and could blend in almost seamlessly in South America.
This article (Click Here) vastly underestimates their numbers, but even so, they are clearly a large demographic everywhere.
The Maronites who remained in Lebanon were never really anti-Israel. In fact, some Lebanese Maronite leaders favored Zionism, as they thought it might be an ally against Islam. For those who know the bible, King Hiram of Tyre (in modern day Lebanon) was a friend of David.
Today, if Lebanon and Israel always seem on the verge of war, it is because the demographic of Muslims soon overtook the Christians. The Maronites were not happy with that development.
A subsequent civil war in Lebanon caused many more Maronites to flee.
And almost everywhere, many of the Maronites prefer to label themselves as Phoenician, and will often distance themselves from Arab causes.
This can play havoc with demographers. With lots of Maronites refusing to consider themselves Arabs, millions of Latin-Arabs are not counted.
Where the Maronites are the majority subset of Arabs in Latin America countries – or even roughly half – they tend to moderate anti-Zionist extremism among the Arab ethnics.
Brazil and Argentina have large Maronite populations, and they tend to be friendly to Israel. Do not let the present president of Brazil, Lula, fool you. He does NOT reflect the opinion of most Brazilians regarding Israel. Most Brazilians are pro-Israel.
How could it be otherwise? Brazil is one-third Evangelical Christian, who tend to have Christian Zionist viewpoints.
Where the Palestinians are the majority subset of Arabs, they can skew the foreign policy of Latin nations. Chile is an example. The very prosperous Palestinians have turned Chile’s government policies to a status that is cold toward to Israel. Below is an example.
Source: Times of Israel
November 1, 2023Recalling ambassador, Chile’s president accuses Israel of ‘unacceptable’ rights violations in Gaza
Chile announces its recalling its ambassador to Israel for consultations, accusing the Jewish state of “unacceptable” human rights violations in the war against the Gaza-ruling Hamas terror group.
The only antidote to anti-Zionism among the Latin Arabs is either a large demographic of Maronites, or a growing Evangelical demographic in the host nation.
Guatemala is noted for this. It has a noticeable Palestinian population (1% of the nation); however, 40% of the general population is Evangelical.
Posted on YouTube: February 18, 2022
What is clear is that the Arabs do not present a unified face in Latin America. And it is foolish to think so.
The Maronites barely consider themselves Arab.
And Evangelicalism can overrule even hostile tendencies in other Arab groups.
November 18, 2024 – Added data.