To the Editor:
Travis Pantin correctly notes many of the challenges facing the Venezuelan Jewish community [“Hugo Chávez’s Jewish Problem,” July-August]. Since Hugo Chávez took office in 1998, relations between the community and the government have dwindled significantly. As Mr. Pantin notes, two government raids of Hebraica centers and a number of government-organized demonstrations against synagogues in Caracas have been nothing short of alarming.
After the failed coup against Chávez in 2002, accusations arose that Jews had participated in the conspiracy, and the situation deteriorated further. When Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became president of Iran in 2005, Chávez rushed to embrace him as an ideological brother and fellow victim of Western imperialism. There followed a plethora of statements by Chávez against the state of Israel. Locally, ongoing government isolation and intimidation led many Venezuelan Jews to emigrate.
A breakthrough of sorts in this intolerable situation may have come this past summer. In response to overtures from the presidents of Brazil and Argentina and from Jewish organizations (including the Latin American Jewish Congress and the World Jewish Congress), Chávez received a delegation of Jewish leaders at his presidential palace. A cordial meeting ensued in which the Jewish community was able to air its concerns, and communication lines were opened for the future.
For his part, Chávez committed himself to issuing a joint statement with his Brazilian and Argentinian counterparts condemning anti-Semitism and racism of all forms in Latin America; appointing a new ambassador to the state of Israel; and talking with Ahmadinejad to steer him away from his stance against the Jews and the state of Israel. We hope that real progress will be forthcoming. Time will tell.
Jack Terpins
Latin American Jewish Congress
Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Travis Pantin writes:
I thank Jack Terpins for his letter, and I hope that Venezuelan Jews will continue to assert their right to live in their country peacefully and unmolested. It strikes me as a good thing that the outcry against the government’s gross mistreatment has been enough to prompt a meeting.
Still, one should take any commitment Hugo Chávez has made with a generous dose of salt. As is well known, the dictator is given to bombast and empty promises. If he does in fact make a concerted effort to combat anti-Semitism in Venezuela and re-establish diplomatic relations with Israel, that will certainly be for the better, but I would not hold my breath waiting. One can certainly expect exactly nothing to come of his risible promise to disabuse the president of Iran of his own rabid anti-Semitism. Venezuelan Jews would do well to remain vigilant about further encroachments on their rights and freedoms.
